Sony continues to advance their Reader Digital Book product lineup with the introduction of their third generation PRS-700. Featuring a six inch touch-screen display and a 10 oz form factor, the PRS-700 allows users to easily navigate and flip through pages with the swipe of a finger. Users can also search terms within a document or book, create notes using a virtual keyboard, and highlight text with a stylus pen. Other features of the Sony PRS-700 include the following:

• Five pre-set text sizes
• High resolution, high contrast electronic paper display
• Built-in LED reading light
• Supports removable Memory Stick Duo or SD memory cards
• Supports up to 7500 pages of continuous reading on a single battery charge
• Supports multiple file formats such as PDF, Word, BBeB, and other text file formats

The new PRS-700 will be available next month for around $400 dollars and will come with a USB cable, PC software, and a protective soft cover.

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Technorati Tags: Sony PRS-700 Reader Digital Book

Thanks to an insider, the Boy Genius Report received pictures and information on the supposed next version of the Amazon Kindle device (known as the Kindle 2 for now). The new version is slightly longer and wider than the original Kindle and has the following button layout (courtesy of BGR):

“on the right side, the bottoms from top to bottom are: Home, Next Page, Menu, a joystick, and Undo. On the left side, there’s Previous, Page, and Next Page.”

Other notable items - the battery does not appear to be user accessible and there’s no SD slot. Head on over to BGR for more pictures and information.

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Technorati Tags: Amazon, Kindle 2, Boy Genius Report

Sony announced on Thursday that they were opening up their Reader Digital Book to the EPUB XML based format which has gained acceptance among major trade book publishers. The Reader will support both DRM and DRM-free EPUB eBooks in addition to support for DRM protected Adobe PDF eBooks and eBooks from Sony’s eBook Store. Current owners of the Reader PRS-505 will be able to upgrade their eBooks by going to the Sony support site here.

Sony also introduced a new limited edition red PRS-505 model which will be available next month at SonyStyle stores and on SonyStyle.com. The Reader will retail for around $300 dollars.

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Technorati Tags: Sony Reader Digital Book, Limited Edition Red Reader, PRS-505

Are you curious what’s inside the new Amazon Kindle? Well the folks at RapidRepair have published a Take-Apart guide to the Amazon Kindle here. Enjoy the pics!!

[Check it out via Ubergizmo]

Technorati Tags: Amazon Kindle, Take-Apart

Do you have yourself a brand spanking new Amazon Kindle device? Curious about some hints and tips? Well head on over to Mobility Today where they’ve posted a short list of hints and tips for the new Kindle eBook reader device. I have to admit.. I was tempted to get  this device but I think I’ll wait until the second generation device from Amazon. If you have purchased a Kindle, I’d love to hear your comments about it though!

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Kindle, Hints, Tips, Mobility Today

As we mentioned earlier this morning, Amazon introduced their entry into the eBook space with their Kindle device - a product billed as a “Wireless Reading Device”. Now that the Kindle page is up and running on the Amazon web-site, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the Kindle and look at the features and specs of the player.  Here’s what you need to know:

• 6 inch E-Ink electronic paper display with a 600 x 800 pixel resolution and a dpi of 167. 4 level gray scale
• Measures 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs 10.3 oz
• Connects via Amazon Whispernet which utilizes Sprint’s national EV-DO service. You don’t pay a cent for the wireless access - Amazon pays for the high speed wireless service
• Designed for both “lefties” and “righties”
• Shop the Kindle Store directly from the Kindle device. Browse for books, newspapers, and magazines all from the comfort of your device.
• QWERTY keyboard
• Supports Bookmarks and Annotation - You can annotate text, add, edit and delete notes, highlight and clip key passages and of course bookmark pages for future use
• Includes The New Oxford American Dictionary with over 250,000 entries
• Free access to Wikipedia.org
• Adjustable text size
• Long battery life which depends on usage

Sounds impressive doesn’t it? Well at $399, it’s still a fairly pricey product - and that’s not counting the books you’ll need to purchase to make the Kindle useful. News.com posted an early hands-on first impression with the Kindle here and found the following:

With its built-in wireless capabilities and PC-free operation, Amazon’s Kindle is a promising evolution of the electronic book (and newspaper, and magazine)–but overpriced content could be its Achilles’ heel.

Personally - I think it’s a great idea yet I think it’s a very vertical product - only a select few will be interested in the Kindle (and willing to pay the prices for the player as well as the content). If anything, I’m waiting for someone to hack the Kindle to access the EV-DO connectivity!

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Technorati Tags: Amazon Kindle, News.com

If you’re looking to read up on the upcoming Amazon Kindle eBook reader, check out Newsweek’s front page cover story for the Kindle (which you can find here). Kindle is Amazon’s first eBook reader product and really their first home grown electronic product of any kind. Everything you really want to know about Kindle can be summed up with this sentence in the Newsweek article:

This week Bezos is releasing the Amazon Kindle, an electronic device that he hopes will leapfrog over previous attempts at e-readers and become the turning point in a transformation toward Book 2.0.

Here’s what you need to know about Kindle thus far:

• Think of it as an extension of the Amazon store
• Buying a book will be a one touch process
• Access books, magazines, and newspapers etc
• Designed to be constantly connected to the Internet via the Whispernet service
• Will have access to a new Amazon eBook store
• Will work over EV-DO service from Sprint and via Wi-Fi
• 6 inch “digital paper” screen
• Integrated keyboard
• Users can search for books, jot down notes or visit websites
• Integrated flash memory holds roughly 200 titles and expandable using memory cards
• Up to 30 hour battery life

The Kindle will be available for $399 and the new eBook store will launch with around 88,000 books and subscription publications. New books and bestsellers will sell for $10 dollars each but some books can be as low as $2 dollars a piece (”You can also get classics for a song”).

So now you know what the Amazon Kindle is all about, one has to wonder - is this the break through product that will revolutionize the book and e-Book industry? If there’s one company that can actually do this, it might very well be Amazon - the company that revolutionized the online book industry. It’s not a far cry to suggest the the Kindle can indeed become the iPod for books. $399 does seem a little pricey for the reader.. but then again, the original iPod was pricey too and guess what? People bought them!

Yet the key differentiator is the content here. The iPod allowed regular Joe Schmoes the ability to easily transport their digital music collections (which was normally free to begin with) anywhere they wanted to. With the Kindle, you’ll need to buy your content before you bring it anywhere. How many of us actually have large collections of eBooks? Not a lot I’m willing to bet. So.. if content can be made available to consumers in an inexpensive method and proven to be as permanent as say an actual hardcover version - then you just might have a product worth checking out!

[Check it out via Electronista]

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Kindle, eBooks