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Amazon Kindle 2 Leaked, Sony Reader To Get Touch Screen

Posted by Soulskill on from the upgrades dept.

suraj.sun writes with news that the e-book reader market is getting more competitive. The Boy Genius Report got its hands on pictures of the Kindle 2, successor to Amazon's first e-book gadget. The new version is a bit bigger, with edges that are less awkward, and it has a revamped key layout. On the same day these pictures were found, Sony announced that a new model of its Reader would be getting a touchscreen, allowing users to "turn the page by swiping their finger across the screen" and "annotate text using a touchscreen keyboard." The advances for each gadget may help them regain market share against the iPhone, which, according to Forbes, has eclipsed both in popularity as a reading device. Hopefully the competition for sales and the work being done by the OLPC Project will help to drop prices as well.

15 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. So... by DirtySouthAfrican · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Can I read run-of-the-mill letter-size PDFs on it yet?

    1. Re:So... by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 5, Informative

      The Sony Reader can. As can the Hanlin eReaderand many more

    2. Re:So... by Locklin · · Score: 3, Informative

      From the first link:

      Typefaces in PDF files formatted for 216 x 280 mm (8.5 x 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.

      That's going to be the same for any 800x600 6inch screen (like the Handlin). A reader capable of displaying scientific papers readably (8.5x11inch, 10pt font) is still a wet dream unfortunately.

      --
      "Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns" -Journal of Political Econom
    3. Re:So... by thesandtiger · · Score: 4, Informative

      the only major benefit to the Kindle & Sony Reader are that they use e-ink displays which are viewable under direct sunlight.

      And that they don't drain battery life nearly as much as back-lit high-refresh rate screens do. And that they typically are much less likely to cause eyestrain.

      --
      Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
    4. Re:So... by wcb4 · · Score: 3, Informative

      I had a PDA that I used for reading eBooks, the Toshiba e805 with its beautiful 640x480 screen. The problems always seemed to be battery life (3.5-4 hours with screen set to near minimum brightness) so you really had to charge it every day, and distractions (real easy to get distracted while reading, go to look something up, then get distracted surfing the net). Because of this I bought a Sony PRS-505. No regrets. I bought a $2.50 book light, and guess what, I can read a night too. The screen is like reading paper in daylight. I charge it about once every 8-10 books.

      Before I bought it I could never manage to really find time to read for enjoyment, I got tired of carrying multiple books, so I welcomes eBooks, but I got tired of forgetting to charge the PDA every night.

      Great battery life, multiple books, looks great in sunlight and a cheap booklight makes it readable even at night. Great buy and as a dedicated reader its damned near perfect.

      --
      I reject your reality ... and substitute my own.
  2. Kindle 2 pics by Matt+Perry · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since the original link is slashdotted, you can find some pics here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10058352-1.html

    --
    Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
  3. Scrollwheel vs joystick by Therlin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wouldn't a scrollwheel be better than a joystick for the purpose of this reader?

    I had been considering purchasing one, now I wonder if I should hurry up and buy v1 before the new one comes out.

  4. Great, just what I need... by cavehobbit · · Score: 5, Funny

    "turn the page by swiping their finger across the screen" ...

    Leaving smeary, Cheetos marks across my books.

    Wait, that isn't really a change.

  5. Count me in as an ipod touch reader by MarcoAtWork · · Score: 4, Interesting

    after being left in the cold by Sony with their librie (closed format, no fw upgrades to read pdf or epub) I will stick with my ipod touch and stanza, the screen is a bit small and not as nice as the librie's e-ink one, but at least I can read every format without issues and the integration with feedbooks is awesome.

    --
    -- the cake is a lie
  6. filthy screens by vlm · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "turn the page by swiping their finger across the screen"

    Only appeals to those whose laptop screens are encrusted with fingerprints. Ugh. Gross. I'm also not impressed with cellphones that accumulate a "face-print" on their LCDs.

    Yet another product that looks great until actually used. I'm sure the focus group loved it.

    Perhaps the target market is those folks whom still run their finger along underneath the words?

    It's like promoting the "quality" of HDTV to nation where 90% of sets have 1/4 inch of dust and pet hair and badly maladjusted picture controls.

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  7. maybe the Sony reader would be more by antifoidulus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    popular if they had any decent books in their store or actually supported non-windows platforms. You would think that in the face of the growing popularity of the mac and the heavy competetion they are facing that Sony would try to expand it's potential audience, but we all know modern Sony rarely displays anything that could be considered logic...

    --
    Monstar L
  8. Kindle Design by psydeshow · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ugh. The Kindle is one of the best-designed gadgets I've ever owned. I hope we don't suffer through a series of crappy re-thinkings based on some misplaced notion of hipness to try to sell readers to people who don't actually read books.

    For instance, a touchscreen is an incredibly lame idea. You spend a _lot_ of time with an e-reader, ok? It takes hours and hours to read a book. Are you really going to want to read the another novel on that screen you've been dragging your finger across for the last three months? Yuck. Not a mobile phone, folks.

    I was totally skeptical about the Kindle until I actually held one. It fits great in either hand, and unlike other readers I've seen you can use it one-handed. If you use your Kindle in the supplied leatherette case you're doing it wrong!

    The Sony reader looks nicer in photos but doesn't have the same kind of balance. I'll take function over form on something like this any day.

  9. Just rub the screen... by Joce640k · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Thing is, with a cell phone you only need the screen for a few seconds, you won't be trying to read text with no backlight for hours and cursing every single page turn.

    Still, it'll look cool in the marketing videos and that's what counts.

    --
    No sig today...
  10. Kindle and Sony have the same basic problem by sehlat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They're single-purpose devices with closed formats in an increasingly multipurpose open-format world. Why would anyone in their right mind spend about $400 on a device that is locked to proprietary formats and doesn't do much else except "read books." Just one more [expletives deleted] gadget to carry around.

    On the other hand, smart phones like the iPod and Android, which can also presumably serve as schedulers, notepads, book readers, mp3 players/audiobook players and *gasp* phones?

    Kindle and Sony were effectively obsolete the day they were released.

  11. Why a keyboard, anyway? by rainwalker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's still not clear to me why precisely I want a hardware keyboard in my ebook reader. There just aren't a lot of reasons to interact with an ebook reader that can't be done with a couple arrow buttons.

    Frankly, the Kindle looks like a bargain-basement product, with an upper-tier price. Yes I know most of the cost is in the screen, I just wish it didn't look like crap. Also, open formats would be nice...