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First look at the new Sony Reader PRS-T1!!!

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The Dutch web retailer and ebookstore bol.com accidentally leaked the product page for the next Sony Reader, and that means the FCC filing for the new Sony Reader that I found last month has just turned very real.

There’s no word on when it will be out but retail is listed as €164.95 and there is a fair amount of detail on the technical specs. It looks like this will be another E-ink ebook reader. It has 2GB Flash, a 6″ screen, a capacitive touchscreen, and it has Wifi and a microSD card slot (we knew that from the FCC paperwork). The description very specifically mentions pinch-zoom,but that doesn’t really tell us anything. The zForce touchscreen tech from Neonode already supported multi-touch, according to the press release.

The description mentions 12 dictionaries and that you can search Google and Wikipedia, which suggests a web browser.  The new gadget also has a stylus and when you put it in sleep mode it shows the cover of a book. Battery  life is listed at a month.

I’ve contacted Sony and I’m waiting to see what they say.

 

Update: I wanted to get this out as fast as possible, so it wasn’t until after I posted that I had a chance to really think about this. I’m disappointed. I feel that Sony continue to remain 1 step behind everyone else. I was hoping for something new and amazing, but Sony gave us an ereader that is only an incremental improvement on the last generation.

via MobileRead

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Comments


Mike Cane August 27, 2011 um 9:40 am

Any mention of a stylus?! Any filing for a 5″ model? If Sony is just doing one 6″ model, why even bother? Well, aside from Harry Potter.

I hope the pinch-zoom will do font resizing.

Not fond of the design.


Void August 27, 2011 um 9:58 am

It has a stylus.

I am also slightly disappointed. I was hoping they would at least move the page turn buttons to the edges; I have always been a fan of the kindle’s button placement over Sony’s. The plastic construction is also a bummer. Hope the battery life at least has been pulled up to current standards.

jorgen August 27, 2011 um 11:33 am

I assume it has the same touch screen as PRS-650, in which case you will only use the page-turn buttons for lists, never for reading (unless you want to, of course).


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Timothy Wilhoit August 27, 2011 um 10:19 am

If the €164.95 figure is correct that would equate to $239. If Sony could have gotten the price point below $200 (at least), they might make some headway. It looks like a good reader but it won’t sell well at that price.

Sweetpea August 27, 2011 um 10:48 am

No, €164.95 is including 19% VAT. Which you don’t pay if you buy in the US.


Sweetpea August 27, 2011 um 10:44 am

Stylus: is included, you can make notes with it.
You can also do font changes and font-size changes.

Tyler August 27, 2011 um 9:36 pm

I have the 650 and the most lacking feature for me is the lack of fonts. I like the default fine enough but I always like having choices. Also there should have been one more size between the medium and large. This holds true especially for the 350. I liked it but thought that with one more font you could get more words on a page with easy readability.


Luqman Mohammad on Facebook August 27, 2011 um 11:14 am

Plastic? No thanks. I can accept that from other makers, but if I’m paying that Sony premium, I want metal.

Nicolò Zarotti August 27, 2011 um 1:51 pm

I perfectly agree.

Sweetpea August 27, 2011 um 4:11 pm

But €165 is absolutely not in the same league as the PRS-650, in price. Because that one was €250…

Chris August 27, 2011 um 6:22 pm

Looks like Sony is listening to what people like about other brands and… that’s a bit odd.


Chris August 27, 2011 um 3:33 pm

I’d have to see how fast the page rate is, et cetera, before ditching my PRS-650 for this new version.


yuzutea August 27, 2011 um 4:20 pm

Not very exciting, I’m afraid, especially now that Nook and Kobo also have touch screens. I wonder when they’ll announce the US price?


OZ August 27, 2011 um 8:28 pm

I think the pixel density is much more imrpoved. But I wonder if they’d just release a 9.7″ for textbooks.


Diane August 27, 2011 um 8:46 pm

It looks just like their current readers–not that that’s a bad thing–though I wish they would have moved the page turn buttons. The current button placement is awkward. Also because the buttons are painted plastic, the paint on my page forward button chipped. All in all, it’s disappointing if this is really their new reader.

Void August 29, 2011 um 11:24 am

I was hoping they would put the page turn buttons where amazon does on the kindle 3. In my opinion, that is the best positioning, shape, and action I have seen thus far.
On the upside, at least they didn’t inset the buttons like the nook touch; you need to pound on the bezel to make those things register because someone at B&N was more concerned with appearance than usability.


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tieffe August 29, 2011 um 3:11 am

don’t care about the EU price, no matter for US price
the 650 in EU is (was) about 250EUR (=350USD) whereas the US price was 230USD (=164EUR) …
I believe that the US price will be well below 150USD

tieffe September 1, 2011 um 8:13 am

as I said a couple of days ago: in USA (expected ) 149 USD (103euros)… maybe less, whereas SONY France and Germany official price is 149 euros, SONY Italy …. 199 euros !!! thanks Sony IT

FR: http://www.sony.fr/product/rd-reader-ebook/tab/overview
IT: http://www.sony.it/product/rd-reader-ebook/tab/overview


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LCNR September 2, 2011 um 1:23 am

Even if it’s not a revolutionary model, if it does do all it’s supposed to, it makes it a worthy contender in the current market IMO, especially as it seems to combine features that the last-generation Kobo and Nook e-book readers do not both share. Still waiting for word from Bookeen, though, who did a marvellous job with their Cybook Opus (lack of annotation and to a lesser extent dictionaries is the only reason why I’m even considering buying a new e-reader)…


Iskariot September 3, 2011 um 3:56 pm

I am very disappointed. This reader does not improve much on technical specs compared to the model I already own. I would have bought the new Sony if it would have featured a considerably stronger/faster processor, text to speech, 4 Gb internal memory and a higher resolution.
And I prefer my strong and beautiful stylish brushed aluminum Sony reader above a cheap glossy plastic look anytime. That really is a huge step backwards. I do like the customization features of this 'new' model though.

For new customers this might be a good buy.
But obviously I will have to wait for the true next gen Sony ereader. This simply is not it. It is mostly more of the same, but in a cheap plastic casing.


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