Advertisments
Sony(R) Portable Reader System Now Available
The highly-anticipated Sony(R) Reader Portable Reader System has made its debut, is now available online at www.sonystyle.com, and will be on retail shelves in November.Sony has also announced the premiere of its CONNECT(R) eBook store, and agreements with a number of major publishing companies to make more than 10,000 eBook titles available to download to the Reader via the companion PC software.
For a limited time, when a Reader is registered on the CONNECT site, people will receive a $50 credit towards the purchase of any available eBook titles which can now be reviewed online at ebooks.connect.com.
"Today, we're writing a new chapter in digital technology for reading," said Ron Hawkins, Sony Electronics' vice president of Portable Reader Systems marketing. "Easy and enjoyable to use, the Reader fulfills the promise of electronic reading in a way that no other device has been able to do. Not intended to replace traditional books, but to supplement them, the Sony Reader allows people to take a library of books and other reading material with them wherever they go."
Starting in October, book fans will find the Reader on shelves at SonyStyle stores located in high-end fashion malls throughout the country as well as at about 300 Borders(R) stores, including Borders airport locations. Borders, the exclusive bookstore retail partner for the Reader during the upcoming holiday season, will also sell pre-paid cards for eBook downloads on the CONNECT service.
"Our collaboration with publishers will be a key factor in growing the popularity of eBooks," said Lee Shirani, vice president for eBooks at Sony CONNECT. "We look forward to working closely with publishers to offer consumers an increasing breadth and depth of title selections; great value; and ease of use in discovering, downloading and reading new titles on the Sony Reader."
The Sony Reader couples an innovative electronic paper display with simple on-screen controls and stylish design. Travelers can carry as much as they want to read whether they are traveling across the globe or just around the corner. With battery life equivalent to roughly 7,500 continuous page turns, readers can potentially devour multiple bestsellers without having to recharge.
Sony says the Reader's high-resolution electronic paper display delivers a realistic print look that rivals traditional paper and results in crisp text and graphics that are easy on the eyes and readable even in bright sunlight.
In addition to electronic books the Reader can also store and display personal documents in Adobe PDF format, RTF, text and JPEG photos. From the CONNECT eBook store, you can also download via your PC selected RSS feeds from blogs and news sites free-of-charge. Feeds from popular sites such as Salon, Slate, Huffington Post, engadget and Gizmodo among others are available.
The Sony Reader will retail for about $350 and comes complete with USB cable, a wall charger, the CONNECT Reader software and a protective soft cover. The Reader and optional accessories such as colorful leather covers and a charging cradle will be available through SonyStyle stores, Borders stores and authorized retailers nationwide. More information about Sony Reader is available at http://www.sony.com/reader.