Editor’s Update Oct. 2009: The Amazon Kindle 2 is now available at a reduced price of $259. In addition, there is already a Kindle with U.S. and International Wireless that can be shipped to over 100 other countries. Priced at $279, the international Kindle version is available for preorder before shipping starts on Oct. 19, 2009. Visit Amazon.com for more details on the Kindle international version.
The Amazon Kindle may have helped bring ebook readers into the spotlight, but the new Sony PRS-600 and Sony PRS-300 are looking to take that spotlight away. Sony has come straight out of the gate, even before their new devices have launched, and challenged Amazon with their aggressive pricing and features. They appear to be trying to hit Amazon in a soft spot. Some potential buyers are put off by the $500 price tag on the Kindle DX, but they don’t want to buy the older and less compatible Kindle 2. While Amazon has nothing to fill that void, Sony is preparing to charge in.
Although many details still remain hidden, a lot is known about the upcoming readers. The Sony PRS-600 and its little brother, the Sony PRS-300, are poised to make a grand entrance. Offering some very attractive features such as a touch screen with freehand writing with a stylus, it is hard to deny that these new gadgets are appealing. And the new screen is even speculated to be flexible. In the manual, it is stated in several places that the screen and parts of the body are flexible, leading many people to wonder if the new devices will use flex screen technology, something that has only recently become available.
But if you are looking for facts and not speculation, there are still some things which are already known. The Sony readers are going to be very compact, but will still offer a good screen size. While they only measure 4.87 inches by 6.87 inches, they still support a 6 inch screen. And if that isn’t compact enough, the whole thing is only .4 inches thick! That means the Sony readers are compact enough to travel well, but don’t sacrifice screen space.
You also get a 380mb storage space on the Sony PRS-600 with the opportunity for expansion. The battery is long-lived as well, offering 7,500 pages between charges. That’s long enough to read War and Peace more than 4 times back to back, not that you ever would. Sony is also offering library software that works with both Macs and PCs, something many people will like. The competitive pricing continues as they plan to match the Kindle on new releases and best sellers at only $9.99. Wireless connectivity is still not integrated, but Sony has hinted that they plan on it soon.
Many potential buyers for the Kindle 2 who want something more updated, or potential buyers for the Kindle DX who are still shuddering at the price, may want to hold off until Sony releases its new ebook readers. They might fill the niche that many people want to see filled. While they still do not offer a sub-$100 reader, they may give about as much bang for the buck as you can expect. While you don’t need to run out and sell your stocks in Amazon, you may want to stay tuned and see what happens when the Sony PRS-300 and Sony PRS-600 finally do hit the market.