Aside from the Sony Pocket Reader, the Japanese company are also launching the PRS-600 as a replacement to its PRS-700. This 6 inch ebook reader will be touch-screen and have the external memory slots and digital audio capabilities that the PRS-300 Pocket Reader won’t have. However, the built in light of the former PRS-700 does not feature in the newer PRS-600.

Something else to keep the media attention heightened is the lack of wireless capability for on the move download of ebooks. Perhaps Sony have another launch in prepartion for later 2009 so that the Amazon Kindle UK launch doesn’t enjoy all the attention around Christmas time this side of the pond. We do know that Sony are working on it. Another good bit of news is for Mac Users. The new Sony readers will be compatible with Macs for the first time.

Sony will be launching the Sony Reader PRS-300 and the Sony Reader PRS-600. Both models will be available in a range of colours including red,black and silver. Lets look at the smaller one first. The Sony PRS-300 has a 5-inch screen and will boast 4440mb of storage inside. No slots for extra memory, no audio output and like the Sony PRS-505 there’s no touch screen. Yes, this new Sony Reader is an ebook reader and no more but thats not a bad thing from what we can see on the blogosphere. Ebook readers are for reading ebooks after all. Why do they need more when we have phones, iPhone touch, and laptops for everything else? David Carnoy at Cnet reckons a $199 US price tag and we reckon if that’s the case it’ll hit the mark with the no-nonsense ebook reader lovers who just want a good quality device with top notch eink screen. We’ve grabbed and saved the Sony PRS-300 User Manual that’s been floating around and you can access it here. Sony-PRS-300-manual

On to to the bigger one….the Sony PRS-600 is a larger 6 inch model with touch screen display, audio output and expansion slots for MS and SD cards. We’re not sure yet about WiFi and back lighting but earlier rumours and blog gossip did suggest this, and to be honest they’d be foolish not to include this with the upcoming Amazon Kindle UK launch later this year. The service manual for the Sony Reader PRS-600 is also avilable to have a look at. Sony-PRS-600-manual

We’re sorry if this artcile is a little light on details but as I said earlier, it’s just rumours and leaks coming together at the moment but you won’t have to wait long for the full review of the new ebook readers from Sony if it’s true that they’ll be launched in August.

Thanks to Sony Insider, Engadget,and CNet for their artviles on the new Sony Readers.

Sony PRS-300 Specifcations

Power source: Built-in rechargeable battery: DC 3.7 V
AC adapter: DC 5.2 V. Battery life (continuous playback)
Maximum Battery:
Approx. 7,500 pages with BBeB Book contents *
Approx. 6,800 pages with EPUB contents*
* Measured using a fully charged battery and counting
consecutive page-turns at approx 1 page per sec. Actual
battery life may vary based on usage patterns and specific
device.
User available capacity: Approx. 440MB
Available storage capacity of the Reader may vary.
Operating temperature: 5 to 35 °C (41 to 95 °F)
Dimensions (w/h/d): Approx. 4 1/4 °— 6 1/4 °— 13/32 inches (107.8 °— 157.5 °— 10.2 mm)
(maximum)
Mass: Approx. 7.76 oz (220 g)
Supplied accessories: USB cable (1), Sleeve (1), Quick Start (1), Flyers

Sony PRS-600 Specifications:

Power source: Built-in rechargeable battery: DC 3.7 V
AC adapter: DC 5.2 V
USB
Battery life (continuous playback)
Maximum Battery: Approx. 7,500 continuous page turns when reading only *
* Measured using a fully charged battery and counting consecutive BBeB
Book and ePub format page-turns at approx 1 page per sec.
Actual battery life may vary based on usage patterns and specific device.
User available capacity: Approx. 380MB
Available memory capacity of the Reader may vary.
Operating temperature: 41 to 95 °F (5 to 35 °C)
Dimensions (w/h/d): Approx. 4 7/8 × 6 7/8 × 12/32 inches (121 × 174.3 × 9.8 mm)
Mass: Approx. 10.1 oz (286 g)

Crave, the gadget blog from Cnet, this week reported a rumour of a new Sony Reader to be launched as soon as August (just a couple of weeks away perhaps). With the PRS-700 still relatively new, it’s expected that Sony will be upgrading and replacing the PRS-505 with a similar sized but WiFi enabled device.

These rumours were started over on MobileRead back in June after an active forum member claimed that he had it on good authority from a Sony employee that a new ebook reader would be launched in August. Apparently the same guy did say that the new ereader would have a bigger screen (than the PRS-505 we’re assuming), and bigger memory. It doesn’t sound like the device will be touch-screen, probably to maintain the eye-friendly screen display. With regards to price…”most likely $300″.

We’ll keep an eye out for more info and the expected launch date.

The innovative ereader also had mobile phone capabilities with effortless email, calendar, and contacts functionality as well. To date, eink devices have tended to be ereaders, with some eink watches and laptops being previewed, but the Readius was the first to demonstrate the multi-purpose potential or eink technology through a wide variety of communications and publishing applications.

Initially thought to be launching back in 2007, the Readius has faced numerous problems and long delays which have now built up to see the company close up shop. Based in Southampton, the closure of POlymer Vision sees 50 jobs lost. No news has been reported on the future of the technology behind the Readius but hopefully we’ll see it rising from the flames in the form of another ebook reader and/or eink device in the near future.

Barnes and Noble are hinting at a rapid growth in ebooks available from the store, with the current 700,000 titles to grow to over a million in a year. This will include every eBook from every eBook publisher, rather than a selected few like some other stores. The price of bestsellers and new releases is to be set at around $9.99 USD which is very competitive compared to Amazon.

The ebook store will also accommodate the 500 thousand or so public domain books from Google that will be downloadable for free. This will include the majority of the classics that are already offered for free by many ebook stores and ebook reader providers. However, Barnes and Noble will also make available some of the less well-known titles, weird and wonderful, and forgotten about gems that aren’t so common in the public domain. New users of the ereader will also benefit from free ebooks such as the Merriam-Webster Pocket dictionary and classics such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Dracula, Little Women and Last of the Mohicans. The device-neutral eBook application is an upgrade of the Fictionwise application that Barnes and Noble acquired back in q1 2009. This application will support wired and wireless accessibility to the new eBook store. 

The Plastic Logic reader that was previewed here on thinkeink is on track for a release in early 2010. The partnership between the ebook store and the extremely thin 8.5 x 11 inch eReader will mean a comprehensive and holistic ereading experience for the user. Barnes and Noble seem to have opened up the ebook market that one step further with it’s “Every Device” strategy.“Today marks the first phase of our digital strategy, which is rooted in the belief that readers should have access to the books in their digital library from any device, from anywhere, at any time,” said William J. Lynch, President of BN.com. “As America’s #1 bookstore and newsstand, our goal at Barnes & Noble is to build a service that revolves around the customer, enabling them to have access to hundreds of thousands of titles and read on their smartphone, PC, and many other existing and future devices. We want to make eBooks simple, accessible, affordable and convenient for everyone.”

We are still not sure what this announcement will mean for the UK, but with Amazon’s announcement of a Q4 launch of the Amazon Kindle, we’re hoping for only a short delay for a UK launch. 

This news article was written based on a report at Engadget

Mobile, an online mobile phone trade magazine, reported yesterday that Amazon is in the late stage, advanced negotiations with a mobile operator and manufacturer, Qualcomm. WiFi connectivity is thought to have been the biggest hurdle for an earlier UK launch after negotiations with big players such as Vodafone, Orange and 3 all broke down around 6 months ago.

The online retailer is busily working towards a launch in advance of the Christmas shopping period by also securing deals with news and magazine publishers, as well as a range of book publishers. If this launch goes ahead, Amazon will be in a good position to establish and defend against other talked about ebook reader launches plus the traction that the likes of Sony are enjoying. With Google and Apple both currently re-moulding the traditional book market, an Amazon Kindle launch will take publishing and reading on leaps and bounds if the launch is by any way as successful as it has been over the other side of the Atlantic.

Whilst one Amazon spokesman said “we have previously announced that we are looking to release the Kindle with our international cusomter. At the moment, we have no timeline” another sounded more upbeat, saying”there’s no reason we can’t do it. We have a billing arrangement already with customers, and have fantastic relationships with the hardware community”.

In other major European countries, the big mobile operators have gone ahead with their own ebook readers. Vodafone has launched one in Germany whilst France will soon see Orange launch a digital book reader soon. Details of Amazon’s mobile connectivity plans are still unknown but we’ll keep a close eye out and report as and when we know.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, has revolutionised the publishing world already with some reports claiming that 26% of book sales in North America, since November 2007, were of the ebook kind.

One things for sure. This launch is exciting for the whole of the UK ebook reader market. Whether Amazon Kindle will clean up, or simply be the spark plug for the whole ebook world, it is a good thing. How the other manufacturers will repond, especially Sony, will be interesting to witness. Thinkeink has featured some of the new generation ebook readers from Samsung and Fujitsu, to name a few. We’d like to see these gearing up quicker for UK launches sometime in the nearer future now. Fingers crossed and get ready for an exciting 2010 in the ebook reader world.

The 5 inch opus model is reported to be an impressive device both in looks, ergonomic design and through many of the specification highlights. The screen is a 5 inch high definition eink screen with 200dpi, 600×800 pixel resolution. It weighs just 150 grammes and sports a 1gb memory, double that of the Bookeen Cybook Gen3, with a memory card expansion slot.

This pocket sized beast is apparently offering 12 font sizes and with a built in accelerometer allows you to use with ease in both hands, with well placed page turn buttons for however you prefer to hold the device.

The Opus supports ePub and PDF, with or without DRM, with the Adobe Reader Mobile SDK software. Furthermore, users will welcome the replaceable battery when required. We’ll report more as we come across it and hopefully will do a full review very soon. For now, see more pics and comments at MobileRead here:

Images from MobileRead.com

Firstly, with the Elonex ebook in one hand and the Sony Reader in the other, you’ll notice the difference in weight. At just 150g it’ll feel remarkably light weight to the Sony Reader in the other hand as well as many other ebook readers out there on the market – most of which weigh in at around 180g to 250g in the case of the Sony PRS-505. It’s great for those you have experienced a tired arm in bed with some of the others. In size, the Elonex is slightly longer and narrower but still casing a good 6 inch screen (187×117x9mm).

It comes in a rubber case, rather than a leather book-like cover and that decision by Elonex would suggest that this ebook reader isn’t trying to closely mimic the real book experience apart from the simplicity. However, a leather case is optional as part of the accessory pack. The screen is very good with no glare or flicker. It has no backlight either so it’ easy on the eye and great for reading in a range of outdoor and indoor lighting. The 6 inch e-Ink screen can the viewed in both landscape and portrait formats and it allows you to choose from 8 different font sizes which is great for young and old and those with eye sight problems.

Elonex boasts an impressive battery life with up to 8000 page transitions in one full charge – enough to last a few days with some long periods of reading. For those who don’t know much about e-ink technology, we judge battery life in page turns because power isn’t used until the page is changed, so you can effectively have the ebook reader on for years if you don’t turn the page!

Anyway, this battery life is up there with the best and you can load on up to a 1000 books with the external 4gb memory card that comes with the £29.99 accessory pack. The casing is sturdy, yet not a head turner as already mentioned. The functionality of the user interface is clear and simple. It’s definitely an ereader that just gets on with what it’s meant to do without the fuss. You still get the slight glitches and delays you’d see from the Sony Reader, and Kindles but it’s not a big issue, especially with this new Elonex ebook. With 100 all time classics preloaded (which is getting pretty standard now) you do have the extras, including a multimedia button dedicated to favourite game Sudoku. Why they’ve made such a fuss about this feature I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a deal breaker but I’m sure Elonex did their market research and it would be a cool 20 minute distraction away from the ebooks for some.

The biggest drawcard for the Elonex ebook reader will be the partnership with Borders UK and their impressive selection of over 45,000 ebooks available online. All in all though, the Elonex is a solid contender in that part of the ebook reader market. It’s not trying too hard to be something that it’s not. It does what it says on the tin (yes, the sudoku game is mentioned a lot) and it does a good job. At $189 it’s 10 quid less expensive that the Sony Reader but you’ll be less likely to make your decision on price, and more likely to weigh up the design. If you’re a fan of the Borders brand, and you want a solid ebook reader performer then The Elonex ebook reader will be a strong possible for you. Borders will still be selling the iRex iLiad alongside the Elonex but it now has an ebook reader that’s more accessible in terms of price.

Full list of Elonex ebook specifications coming soon

It comes with a 512mb of memory which can store up to 1000 books, that can be extended to 8000 with the £30 optional accessory pack that contains a 4 gb SD card plus a protective leather case. 100 classics are already preloaded on for free. At 9mm thick and only 180g (compared to the Sony Reader PRS-505 at 260g) it’s thin and light but Elonex’s big claim is the long battery life of around 8000 pages between charges.

The Elonex ebook reader is priced at £189 so right in there to take on the Sony Reader PRS-505 and the more recent Cool-er ebook reader. The Elonex supports ePub and Adobe formats and with the sheer weight of titles on the new Borders ebook store, you won’t be shorty of reading material.

At the launch today. Sam Goult, Marketing Manager at Elonex comments “While the eBook sector is still very much in its infancy, new products like the Elonex eBook give readers a whole host of new ways to enjoy reading their favourite books. At 180g the eBook is so thin and light is perfect for the daily commute or taking on holiday with you. The Elonex eBook is not only easy to use but easy on the eye. It has the great functionality that you can change the font size, rotate the screen, read in direct sunlight and because the screen is two and half times sharper than a computer screen it’s great for people who struggle with their eyesight”

Sam Goult also went on to commit Elonex to a long future in the ebook reader market with promises of further functionality improvements that will not only enhance many people’s futures, but also the environment.

He said “Elonex sees the future of homes, schools and businesses involving eBooks as a way of distributing information, with the ultimate goal of a paperless society which will significantly decrease the nation’s carbon footprint.”

At first glance you would think it would be here already – most mainstream consumer products launch pretty quickly over here after their US release but not the Kindle. There appear to be 2 main sticking points:

• Agreeing with publishers to make the books available

Despite the myriad of ebook readers now available there is still only a limited amount of ebooks available from a limited set of publishers – and the pricing is often poor compared to the paperback versions of the same books.  Amazons marketing muscle could probably solve this one pretty easily though.

• Agreeing with mobile networks to distribute the ebooks

In the US, “Whispernet”, the Sprint EVDO network Amazon uses, allows the kindle to download books from the amazon store anywhere in the country so no need for a wifi connection or even a pc to download the book or manage your account.  So far European telecoms operators seem reluctant to broker a similar deal and until Amazon can agree this it will stall the Kindles march into the UK and indeed Europe.

Recent talks with German telecoms operators T-Mobile and Vodafone have stalled, with Amazon unwilling to meet the financial demands of the mobile operators, which looks bleak for a German Kindle.
So the question remains – when will we see kindle in the UK?