Sony has collapsed their Reader offerings from three — Pocket, Touch, and Daily — down to one new model: Reader WiFi.
A 6″ eInk screen with IR-based multitouch, WiFi (B/G/N), browser, stylus, 2Gb of internal storage with up to 32Gb expansion via a microSD slot, headphone jack for audio playback, micro USB port, and wireless borrowing of eBooks from public libraries. Available in a few weeks for US$149.00.
No videos have been posted by anyone yet.
The user manual isn’t yet available at Sony’s site, either.
Personally, I’m a bit disappointed to see the Pocket Edition go away. I guess the market overwhelmingly prefers a six-inch screen — or maybe Sony just wanted to make life simple for itself.
This is the Reader Sony should have produced at least two years ago.
Oddly, Joanna Stern at This Is My Next says this new Reader is based on Android. That would be a huge change for Sony. Prior models were based simply on Linux, with Sony software over that. If this Reader actually has Android inside, it would make it a real competitor to the Nook Touch in the XDA rooting community. In fact, given its five bottom front buttons, it would be superior to a Nook Touch as a rooted eInk Android tablet. But I wouldn’t hold out hope for this having Android.
Android? Interesting. I am surprised by the price though. Still more expensive than the competitor I think.
$10 more. Stylus. Aggravation of desktop Reader software thrown in for free!