Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Sony Unveils Amazon eReader Rival

Sony unveiled the wireless Reader Daily Edition (the 3rd member of its reader family), that could be the strongest competitor to Amazon.com's Kindle. Sony was first to indroduce a digital/electronic reader; however, Amazon has dominated the market since introducing the 2007 Kindle.

Although higher priced at $399 ($100 more than the basic Kindle), the Sony Reader Daily Edition has a touch-sensitive screen and accessibilty to a large range of sources including one million free public domain books from Google. In addition, Sony is partnering with OverDrive Inc. to let users enter their Zip Codes and library card number to see what e-books are available from their local library. Current Kindle users are largely limited to Amazon's online bookstore.

"The Reader Daily Edition gives consumers wireless access via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network to Sony’s eBook store from just about anywhere in the U.S. Book lovers will be able to browse, purchase and download books as well as select newspapers and magazines when and where they want. There are no monthly fees or transaction charges for the basic wireless connectivity and users still have the option to side load personal documents or content from other compatible sites via USB." (Sony, 082509 Press Release)

No comments: