It’s been a long time coming – and strictly speaking it’s not quite here yet – but it looks as if the Amazon Kindle reader is about to get some serious competition. Sony has just announced the launch of its latest e-book reader – the “Daily Edition” – and it looks as if it will give the Kindle a run for its money.
It will be in the shops before the end of the year – which means it will be launched in time for the festive gift giving bonanza. The price has been confirmed as $399. That’s $100 more than the Kindle 2 and $90 less than the DX.
The price isn’t the only thing that’s been positioned between the Kindle 2 and the DX. At seven inches wide, the screen will display a similar number of lines to a paperback book. The device trumps both of the Kindles by incorporating touch screen technology.
The reader will have wireless connectivity to the Sony bookstore. This will be provided by AT&T which may make it easier for Sony to launch the reader in Europe (no date for this has been announced as yet). Amazon’s (somewhat half-hearted) attempts to set up a European connection system similar to their US 3G “Whispernet” system have met with little success to date.
Based on initial spec details, Sony look to have a real contender here. At first glance, the Daily Edition looks to be technically superior to the Kindle in a number of areas. Of course, it’s not just the technical functionality of the actual reader devices that need to be considered. The vast collection of titles available from Amazon is a big point in their favor. However, Sony have a tie-up with Google which lets their users access Google’s public domain library and the Daily Edition reader will also allow users to access their local library’s collection of e-books.
There are other competitors set to launch new readers onto the market – not least of which would be Apple. The e-book reader market sector does seem to be heating up. That’s good news for consumers as prices of both the readers and the e-books for them will naturally reduce.