The Sony Reader is a line of e-book readers manufactured by Sony. It uses an electronic paper display developed by E Ink Corporation, is viewable in direct sunlight, requires no power to maintain a static image, and is usable in portrait or landscape orientation.
Sony sells e-books for the Reader from the Sony eBook Library store in the US, UK, Japan, Germany, Austria, Canada and it will be coming to France, Italy and Spain starting in Spring 2012.[1] The Reader also can display Adobe PDFs, ePub format, RSS newsfeeds, JPEGs, and Sony's proprietary BBeB ("BroadBand eBook") format. The Reader can play MP3 and unencrypted AAC audio files.
Compatibility with Adobe digital rights management (DRM) protected PDF and ePub files allows Sony Reader owners to borrow ebooks from lending libraries in many countries.[2]
The DRM rules of the Reader allow any purchased e-book to be read on up to six devices, at least one of which must be a personal computer running Windows or Mac OS X. Although the owner cannot share purchased eBooks on others' devices and accounts, the ability to register five Readers to a single account and share books accordingly is a possible workaround.
There have been ten models to date. The PRS-500 (PRS standing for Portable Reader System) was made available in the United States in September 2006. On 1 November 2006, Readers went on display and for sale at Borders bookstores throughout the US. Borders had an exclusive contract for the Reader until the end of 2006. From April 2007, Sony Reader has been sold in the US by multiple merchants, including Fry's Electronics, Costco, Borders and Best Buy. The eBook Store from Sony is only available to U.S. or Canadian residents or to customers who purchased a U.S.-model reader with bundled eBook Store credit.
On July 24, 2007, Sony announced that the PRS-505 Reader would be available in the UK with a launch date of September 3, 2008. Waterstone's is the official retail partner and the Reader is available at selected stores such as Argos, Sony Centres and Dixons; while a red edition is available exclusively from John Lewis.
The PRS-700, with touch screen and built in lighting was announced on October 2, 2008 (and has since been discontinued).
On August 5, 2009 Sony announced two new readers, the budget PRS-300 Pocket Edition and the more advanced PRS-600 Touch Edition.[3]
On August 25, 2009 Sony announced the Reader PRS-900 "Daily Edition."[4] This features a 7" diagonal screen to compete with the Amazon Kindle DX. It's also the first to feature free 3G wireless through AT&T to access the Sony eBookstore without the need of a computer. It also is the first to increase the grayscale level, from 8 to 16.
In September 2010, Sony introduced the PRS-350 Pocket Edition and PRS-650 Touch Edition, as replacements for the PRS-300 and PRS-600, with both new models featuring 16-level grey scale touch screens. The launch of the new models also represented the introduction of the Sony Reader into the Australian and New Zealand markets for the first time.[5]
On August 31, 2011, Sony announced a new reader replacing all of their previous models, the PRS-T1, featuring a 6" screen.[6]
The PRS-500 was launched in September 2006, it has a six-inch display from E Ink Corporation and a thickness of 13 mm. There is an internal memory of 64 MB. This model was superseded by the PRS-505 in 2007.
On November 16, 2009, Sony announced that a firmware update is available to owners of the original PRS-500. This update "will allow your PRS-500 to support the ePub and Adobe DRM format and add the ability to re-flow PDF documents". Owners must send the reader in to the Sony Service Centers for the updated firmware.[7]
PRS-500 specifications
- Size: 175.6 × 123.6 × 13.8 mm (6.9" × 4.9" × 0.5")
- Weight: 250 g (9 oz)
- Display:
- size: 15.5 cm (6 in) diagonal (approx 1/4 area of letter-sized page)
- resolution: 170 dpi, 4-level gray scale
- portrait: 90.6 × 122.4 mm (3.57" × 4.82"), 600 × 800 pixels | effective 115.4 × 88.2 mm (4.54 × 3.47 in), 754 × 584 pixels
- minimum font size: 6 pt legible, 7 pt recommended
- Memory: 64 MB standard, Memory Stick (Pro Duo High Speed not supported. Normal memory sticks are only supported up to 4 GB, despite Sony compatibility claims [8]) or SD card expansion up to 2 GB (some non-SDHC 4GB cards may work)
- Lithium-ion battery, up to 7500 "page turns" per charge
- PC interface: USB port
The PRS-505 was launched on 2 October 2007, a software and hardware updated version of the PRS-500 Reader, which it replaced. The 505 keeps the 6" E Ink display of the original Reader, but uses an improved version of E Ink Vizplex imaging film with faster refresh time, brighter white state, and 8-level grayscale.
PRS-505 is thinner than its predecessor (8 mm vs. 13 mm) and comes with more internal memory (256 MB vs. 64 MB).
Other new product features included auto-synchronization to a folder on a host PC, support for the USB Mass Storage Device profile, and full USB charging capability (the PRS-500 could only be recharged via USB if the battery was not fully drained, and if the Sony Connect Reader software was installed on the host PC). Also, adding books to "Collections" (a feature to organize and group book titles) is now possible on the storage card, unlike the PRS-500 model.
Version 1.1 firmware, available as a free download since July 24, 2008 adds support for the EPUB format, Adobe Digital Editions 1.5 and Adobe DRM protected PDF files, automatic reflow of PDF files formatted for larger pages enlarges the text to improve readability, and support for high capacity SDHC memory cards.[9]
PRS-505 specifications
- Size: 175 × 122 × 8 mm (6.9" × 4.8" × 0.3")
- Weight: 250 g (9 oz)
- Display:
- size: 15.5 cm (6 in) diagonal (approx 1/4 area of letter-sized page)
- resolution: 170 dpi, 8-level gray scale
- portrait: 90.6 × 122.4 mm (3.57" × 4.82"), 600 × 800 pixels | effective 88.2 × 115.4 mm (3.47 × 4.54 in), 584 × 754 pixels | for the Pictures application effective resolution is 600 × 766 pixels
- minimum font size: 6 pt legible, 7 pt recommended
- Memory: 256 MB standard (200 MB Accessible), Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo 8 GB, SD card up to 2 GB (some non-SDHC 4GB cards may work), or up to 32 GB with SDHC cards and version 1.1 firmware
- Lithium-ion battery, up to 6800 "page turns" per charge
- PC interface: USB port 2.0
- Available case colors:
- PRS505/LC: Dark Blue
- PRS505/SC: Silver
- PRS505SC/JP: Custom Skin (James Patterson Special Edition)
- PRS505/RC: Sangria Red (introduced in August 2008)
The discontinued PRS-700 without soft cover.
The PRS-700 was launched on October 2008, it has a touchscreen that can be used as a virtual keyboard. It became available in the United States early November 2008 at a MSRP of $399, in April 2009 it was selling for $349.99. Unlike Sony's LIBRIé, a close cousin of the Sony Reader, the PRS-500 and PRS-505 offered no way for the user to annotate a digital book as it lacks a keyboard. This was addressed by the release of the PRS-700. Improvements of PRS-700 vs. the PRS-505 include the following:
- The 6-inch E Ink display (same resolution as before) is now a touch screen, removing the need for the 10 side buttons.
- Note taking and virtual keyboard, made possible by the new touch screen.
- Page turning buttons remain but can also be accomplished by touch screen gestures.
- LED lighting for use in poor lighting conditions.
- Internal storage is doubled to 512 MB.
According to Sony's website, this item is no longer available for purchase.[10][11]
PRS-700 specifications
- Size: Approx. 174.3 × 127.6 × 9.7 mm (67⁄9" × 51⁄9" × 0.4")
- Weight: 283.5 g (10 oz)
- Display:
- size: 15.5 cm (6 in) diagonal (approx 1/4 area of letter-sized page)
- resolution: 170 dpi, 8-level gray scale
- integrated touchscreen
- Memory: 512 MB standard (350 eBooks at 1.2 MB each average, 420 MB available), Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo 8 GB, SDHC card expansion up to 32 GB
- Lithium-ion battery, up to 7500 "page turns" per charge
- PC Interface: USB port 2.0
- Built-in LED reading light
The PRS-300 was launched on August 2009 and it is also known as the "Pocket Edition". The PRS-300 was announced at the same time as the touch-screen PRS-600. It is Sony's smallest ever Reader as well as its entry-level device, priced at US$199. It has a smaller screen than the PRS-600, no touch interface, no MP3 audio or expandable memory. It has a similar interface to the PRS-500 and PRS-505.
PRS-300 specifications
- Display: 5 inch.
- Resolution: 600 × 800 pixels
- Dimensions LxWxD (Approx.): 61⁄4 × 41⁄4 × 13/32 inches (Approx. 159×108×10 mm)
- Weight (Approx.): 220g (7.76 oz)
- Gray scale: 8-levels gray scale
- Internal Memory: 512MB, 440MB accessible
- Font Size: 3 adjustable font sizes
- Battery: Sealed internal, up to two weeks of reading on a single charge
- MSRP: US$150
- Available case colors:
- PRS-300BC: Navy Blue
- PRS-300RC: Rose Pink
- PRS-300SC: Silver
The PRS-600 was launched on August 2009 and it is also known as the "Touch Edition". The PRS-600 was announced at the same time as the touch-screen PRS-300. It is Sony's middle-Range device device and it priced at US$299. It is the replacement for the PRS-700 model (although it is missing the front-light feature). It is Sony's higher-scale, touch-screen edition of the reader. It has a similar interface to the PRS-700. Unlike the PRS-700 which was only available in black, the PRS-600 is available in three colors. Note if the device is locked, using the optional 4 digit pin it will not mount via USB, the lock option needs to be disabled in order to mount the device.
This edition has been criticized for having a very reflective screen, making it hard to read unless it is angled just right in relation to the light sources.[12]
This edition offers the possibility to highlight, quote or underline the text you are reading. Moreover, it comes with features such as Music player via a jack.
PRS-600 specifications
- Size: 175.3 × 121.9 × 10.2mm (6.9" × 4.8" × 0.4")
- Weight: 286 g (10.1 oz)
- Display: 6 inch. touch-screen
- Resolution: 600 × 800 pixels
- Document Search Capability
- Built-in Dictionary: American Oxford and English Oxford
- eBook support extension
- DRM Text : ePub (Adobe DRM protected), PDF (Adobe DRM protected), BBeB Book (PRS DRM protected)
- Unsecured Text : ePub, BBeB Book, PDF5, TXT, RTF, Microsoft Word (Conversion to the Reader requires Word installed on your PC)
- Gray scale: 8-levels gray scale
- Internal Memory: 512MB, 380MB accessible
- Expanded Memory: Support for Sony Memory Stick Pro DUO and SDHC up to @16 Gb
- Font Size: 5 adjustable font sizes
- Battery: Sealed internal, up to two weeks of reading on a single charge
- MSRP: US$170
- Available case colors:
- PRS-600BC: Black
- PRS-600SC: Silver
- PRS-600RC: Red
The PRS-900 was launched on December 2009 and it is also known as the "Daily Edition". The PRS-900 was announced at the same time as the touch-screen PRS-300. It is Sony's Top of the Range device device and it priced at US$399. The device has a larger display (7"), 16-levels of grayscale, touch screen and 3G wireless access (through AT&T Mobility in a manner similar to the Kindle's whispernet) which enables computer-free access to the Sony eBookstore in the United States. Like earlier Sony Readers the display can be oriented horizontally, enabling a landscape style mode, and adds a new mode displaying two portrait-mode pages side-by-side (in a similar fashion to viewing a book).
PRS-900 specifications
- Size: 206.4 × 127 × 15.1 mm (8.1" × 5" × 0.6")
- Weight: 360 g (12.75 oz)
- Display: 7.1 inch. touch-screen
- Resolution: 600 × 1024 pixels
- Gray scale: 16-levels gray scale
- Internal Memory: 2GB, 1.6GB accessible
- Expanded Memory: Support for Sony Memory Stick Pro DUO and SDHC up to 32GB.[13] According to Sony.com, it can take up to a 32GB Memory Stick. But, according to its manual, 32GB memory sticks are not guaranteed to work. Therefore, it is recommended that 16GB memory sticks be used.
- Font Size: 6 adjustable font sizes
- Battery: User replaceable, up to two weeks of reading on a single charge
- Wireless: AT&T 3G wireless (free), access to eBook store only, no web browser
- MSRP: US$250
- Available case colors: PRS-900: Black
The PRS-350 was launched on August 2010 and it is also known as the "Pocket Edition". The PRS-350 was announced at the same time as the touch-screen PRS-650. It is Sony's smallest ever Reader as well as its entry-level device replacing the PRS-300 and it is priced at US$179. It has a touch screen, and two GB of Memory but lacks an SD Card Slot and does not support MP3 playback.
PRS-350 specifications
- Size: 145 × 104.3 × 8.5mm
- Weight: 155 g
- Display: 5 inch. E Ink Pearl, touch-screen, grey scale 16-levels
- Resolution 600 × 800 pixels
- Document Search Capability
- Built in flash memory: 2 GB
- Font Size: 6 sizes (XS - XXL)
- Supported e-book formats: EPUB, PDF, Microsoft Word, TXT, RTF, BBeB
- Hi-speed micro USB
- Color: Pink and Silver
The PRS-650 was launched on August 2010 and it is also known as the "Touch Edition". The PRS-650 was announced at the same time as the touch-screen PRS-350. It is Sony's middle-Range device device and it priced at US$229. It is the replacement for the PRS-600 model. It is Sony's higher-scale, touch-screen edition of the reader. It has a similar interface to the PRS-350.
PRS-650 specifications
- Size: 168 × 118.8 × 9.6mm
- Weight: 215 g
- Display: 6 inch. E Ink Pearl, touch-screen, grey scale 16-levels
- Resolution 600 × 800 pixels
- Document Search Capability
- Built in flash memory: 2 GB
- SD card slot
- Memory Stick PRO Duo slot
- Font Size: 6 sizes (XS - XXL)
- Supported e-book formats: EPUB, PDF, Microsoft Word, TXT, RTF, BBeB
- Supported audio formats: MP3, AAC
- Available case colors:
- PRS-650BC: Black
- PRS-650SC: Silver
- PRS-650RC: Red
The PRS-950 was launched on August 2010 replacing the PRS-900 and it is also known as the "Daily Edition". It is Sony's Top of the Range device device and it priced at US$299. The device has a larger display (7"), 16-levels of grayscale, touch screen Wi-Fi and 3G wireless access (through AT&T Mobility in a manner similar to the Kindle's whispernet) which enables computer-free access to the Sony eBookstore in the United States. Like earlier Sony Readers the display can be oriented horizontally, enabling a landscape style mode, and adds a new mode displaying two portrait-mode pages side-by-side (in a similar fashion to viewing a book).
PRS-950 specifications
- Size: 199.9 × 128 × 9.6mm
- Weight: 272 g
- Display: 7 inch. E Ink Pearl, touch-screen, grey scale 16-levels
- Resolution 600 × 1024 pixels
- Document Search Capability
- Built in flash memory: 2 GB
- SD card slot
- Memory Stick PRO Duo slot
- Font Size: 6 sizes (XS - XXL)
- Supported e-book formats: EPUB, PDF, Microsoft Word, TXT, RTF, BBeB
- Supported audio formats: MP3, AAC
- Color: Silver only
- Wireless: 3G, Wi-Fi, Web Browser
The PRS-T1 is the latest 6", it is a Wi-Fi only model. Its touchscreen supports zoom in and out, look up in dictionary and adding notes. Up to 16 different languages are supported.
PRS-T1 specifications
- Size: 173 × 110 × 8.9mm
- Weight: 168 g
- Display:
- size: 15.5 cm (6 in) diagonal (approx 1/4 area of letter-sized page)
- resolution: 16-level gray scale E Ink Pearl display
- portrait: 90.6 × 122.4 mm (3.57" × 4.82"), 600 × 800 pixels | effective 115.4 × 88.2 mm (4.54 × 3.47 in), 754 × 584 pixels
- minimum font size: 6 pt legible, 7 pt recommended
- Memory: 2 GB of internal storage (1.4 GB available to use) plus microSD expansion of up to 32GB.
- Lithium-ion battery, up to one month per charge.
- PC interface: USB port
- Supported e-book formats: EPUB, PDF, TXT.
- Supported audio formats: MP3, AAC.
- Wireless: Wi-Fi, simple web browser.
- Colors: Black, Red and White.
DRM-free Text: BBeB Book (LRF), TXT, RTF, EPUB (PRS-T1: EPUB, PDF, TXT only). Typefaces in PDF files formatted for 216 × 280 mm (8.5 × 11 inch) pages may be too small to read comfortably. Such files can be reformatted for the Reader screen size with Adobe Acrobat Professional, but not by Adobe Reader software. The Reader does support Microsoft Word DOC format. The 'CONNECT Reader' application uses Word to convert the .DOC files to RTF before sending them to the Reader.
DRM-protected Text: BBeB Book (LRX); ePub.
Audio: MP3 and DRM-free AAC (except on the PRS-300 & PRS-350)
Image: JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP (Loading an animated GIF will freeze the Reader)
RSS: Limited to 20 featured blogs such as Engadget and Wired, no ability to add others and no auto-update (as of 2006-12-01)
The Reader supports TXT and RTF documents with Latin character set only. Other character sets (such as Cyrillic, for example) are not displayed correctly, but Cyrillic patches are available for Russian (and Bulgarian) users (see the site [1]). Sony Customer Support have confirmed that units sold in the US only work with Latin characters (as of 2007-03-02).
On August 13, 2009, Sony announced that by the end of 2009, it will only sell EPUB books from the Sony Reader Store, and will have dropped its proprietary DRM entirely in favor of Adobe's CS4 server side copy protection.[14]
Sony Reader comes bundled with Sony's proprietary software called Sony Reader Library (or formally eBook Library and Sony Connect). It requires Windows XP or higher (Windows Vista or Windows 7), an 800 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM, and 20 MB of hard disk space. This software does not work on the 64-bit versions of Windows XP. 64-bit Windows Vista and Windows 7 is supported since Sony eBook Library version 2.5.00.09170 for all but the 500 models.[15]
Sony released an official Mac OS X client for the Reader with the release of the PRS-300 and PRS-600. It is reported to work with the PRS-505, PRS-700, Reader Pocket Edition and Reader Touch Edition. The software works under 10.6 Snow Leopard, but only under 32 bit mode as it relies on a kernel module that does not currently support the 64 bit kernel which is now default on new Macs. There is not a version available for download that is labelled to support Lion.
Sony eBook Library is not officially supported on Linux-based systems or other operating systems, although when the device is connected it grants access to its internal flash memory and any memory card slots as though they were USB Mass Storage devices (on all models except PRS-500s that have not received the free EPUB upgrade from Sony), allowing the user to transfer files directly. See the Third party tools section below for a third-party software utility that provides comprehensive support for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Note if the device is locked, using the optional 4 digit pin it will not mount via USB, the lock option needs to be disabled in order to mount the device.
Several third-party tools exist for the Sony Reader. For example, the PRS Browser for Mac OS X from Docudesk allows Macintosh users to manage content on the Sony Reader. Users can also use the free software library and utility called Calibre to communicate with the Reader and manage their digital library. Calibre can convert many ebook formats as well as collate multiple HTML pages into a single ebook file with an automatically generated table of contents. Calibre can also manage RSS subscriptions, including scheduled pushes of newsfeeds to the reader. It has both a command line and graphical interface, and is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Calibre notably does not offer Windows 64-bit support for the PRS-500 model either.
Specialized on notes, annotations, bookmarks and other input by the user, noteworks allows for listing, exporting and other handling of this data, extracted from the device.[16]
In addition, Adobe Digital Editions can deliver DRM-locked PDF and ePub documents to the PRS-350, PRS-505 and PRS-700. The software is officially available for Windows and Mac OS. It can be run on Linux using Wine. After activating the reader on an officially supported platform, DRM-locked media can be downloaded and transferred to the reader on Linux as well.[17]
PRS+ project seamlessly integrates into Sony UI and adds support for folder browsing, dictionary, key binding, book history, custom epub styles, games (Sudoku, Chess, Mahjong, etc.), localization (Catalan, German, Czech, English, French, Georgian, Russian, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese) and has built in fb2 to EPUB converter. PRS+ Project Demo
Runs as an independent application. Adds support for FB2 / CBR / CBZ formats, drops support for LRF. Currently in beta state. Ebook Applications
The PRS-T1 runs a heavily modified version of the Android operating system, which Sony mentions in the Legal Notices installed on the device.
Its predecessors run the MontaVista Linux Professional Edition operating system.
In December 2008, Sony disclosed that it had sold 300,000 units of its Reader Digital Book globally since the device launched in October 2006.[18] According to an IDC study from March 2011, sales for all e-book readers worldwide gained to 12.8 millions in 2010; 800,000 of them were Sony Readers.[19]
- ^ "Sony Reader Store will be coming to France, Italy and Spain starting in Spring 2012". Sony. 2011-09-1. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201109/11-099E/index.html.
- ^ OverDrive Digital Library Reserve provides lending services for ebooks from over 9,000 libraries worldwide. Retrieved 2010-09-27
- ^ "Sony officially unveils new Readers, drops price of e-books". cnet.com. 2009-08-04. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10303031-1.html. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
- ^ "EXTRA, EXTRA: SONY’S DAILY EDITION ROUNDS OUT NEW LINE OF DIGITAL READERS". sony.com. 2009-08-25. http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/computer_peripheral/e_book/release/41492.html. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ^ "Sony launches two new ereaders, announces REDgroup partnership". BOOKSELLER+PUBLISHER Online. 2010-09-08. http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2010/09/17263/.
- ^ "Sony Reader Wi-Fi (PRS-T1) announced at IFA, Harry Potter edition promised". Pocket-lint ltd.. 2011-08-31. http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/41814/sony-reader-wi-fi-prs-t1-ebooks.
- ^ Update your PRS-500 Reader accessed November 18, 2009
- ^ "Sony Reader PRS500 limited support for 4 GB SD-cards and memorysticks". AFmag.net. 2007-07-03. http://hightech.afmag.net/sony-reader-prs500-limited-support-for-4gb-sd-cards-and-memorysticks.html. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
- ^ Sony Reader PRS-505 System Firmware Update accessed December 11, 2008
- ^ "PRS-700BC". SonyStyle USA. Sony. http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665562069. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "Reader Digital Book - PRS700". SonyStyle Canada. Sony. http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/ProductDetailDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=1005736. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ Janet Cloninger (2009-09-07). "Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition Reader Review". http://the-gadgeteer.com/2009/09/07/sony-prs-600-touch-edition-reader-review/. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
- ^ "sony.com". http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644523779&N=4294954529.
- ^ "Sony to dump proprietary DRM in eBooks". http://www.betanews.com/article/Sony-to-dump-proprietary-DRM-in-eBooks/1250178261. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
- ^ "Sony eBook Library Supports 64-bit Windows Vista". sony.com. 2008-08-08. http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/support-info.pl?info_id=359. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
- ^ "noteworks - Manage your notes on the Sony PRS-T1". http://themediahost.de/noteworks.
- ^ "Re: how do I copy my DRM books from adobe D.E to my BeBook". http://forums.adobe.com/message/3466544#3466544. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ Turns Out Sony E-Book Readers Sell After All, accessed on 7 December 2008
- ^ Nearly 18 Million Media Tablets Shipped in 2010 with Apple Capturing 83% Share; eReader Shipments Quadrupled to More Than 12 Million. Press release by IDC, 10 March 2011.
