AfterDawn: News

Sony re-hauls e-reader line, increases price

Sony has re-hauled their e-reader line, increasing the price while adding new features.

The new Reader Pocket Edition will cost $179, up from $149 for the last edition.



Sony's revamped Touch Edition will jump to $229, and the high-end Daily Edition will cost $299.

Each of the devices now features a slimmer and lighter body, more sensitive touchscreens, and higher contrast e-ink screens with better clarity.

Sony's biggest rivals, the Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook sell for under $150, so Sony may be facing an uphill battle trying to steal market share from cheaper and more established devices.

Furthermore, B&N and Amazon have repeatedly cut the prices of their devices while updating new features. Just last week, Borders said it was slashing the price of the Aluratek Libre e-readers to $99.99, the first e-reader to drop under the $100 threshold.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Sep 2010 22:51

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• 10 comments

• ZeusAV

  Overpricing things is Sony's biggest problem. It seems that they will never learn.
  
  All of their Vaio laptops and Bravia TVs are more expensive than rivals that offer the same thing.
  
  PS3 was almost dead in 2007 because of the high price and the PSPGo failed almost immediately due to price.

  2.9.2010 23:46 #1

• Mysttic

  And now they offer an ereader where their basic function takes a back seat to shitty eye candy

  3.9.2010 00:00 #2

• solamf30

  And honestly how more clear can the screen get. My Nook has great clarity with or without my glasses. As for a more sensitive touch screen my Nook touch screen is just fine. Not a fanboy of the Nook but it meets my needs as an e-reader. 1. I can read my epubs and 2. I can read it in daylight quite well (no glare), and finally 3. It has a good price point.

  3.9.2010 00:41 #3

• KillerBug

  Sony is really out of their league here...the Kindle dominates the nook and the nook dominates the sony...if I wanted to have overbearing DRM, high prices, monthly service fees, and low quality, I would buy an iPad.

  3.9.2010 04:39 #4

• davidike

  Originally posted by ZeusAV: Overpricing things is Sony's biggest problem. It seems that they will never learn.
  you forgot to say propertarian lock ins as sony are the key player in the destruction of the second hand market for all media.
  
  this is worth a read over
  
  Quote:Which ebook sellers will allow publishers and writers to opt out of DRM?
  
  Sunday, Aug 29, 2010
  
  My August Publishers Weekly column reports in on my experiment to see which of the major ebook stores would carry my books without DRM, and with a text disclaimer at the beginning that released readers from the crazy, abusive license agreements that most of these stores demand as a condition of purchase. Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo were all happy to carry my books without DRM, and on terms that gave you the same rights you got when buying paper editions. Sony and Apple refused to carry my books without DRM -- even though my publisher and I both asked them to.
  
  The upshot is that you can now buy electronic editions of my books in the Kindle, Nook and Kobo stores in DRM-free, EULA-free editions! until we are allowed to pass on our purchases, that both sony and apple say we "own", in their bulls**t double speak, avoid the scum corporations toys.
  
  i will continue with old fashioned books that do not require batteries, or force you to jump through hoops to own, do not report your usage back to sony, cannot auto delete while you were away, & with a real book you CAN pass on, give away, trade or sell, and real books are far cheaper, but at least there is a few ebook companies starting to listen just not sony/apple, as per usual
  
  
  the moral of the story is NEVER purchase anything from either apple or sony until they stop shafting everyone up the rectum, all sony/apple, loyalists its time to lube up!
  

  "The public domain is a dicgrace to the forces of evil"
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

  3.9.2010 05:03 #5

• fmcfm

  Originally posted by Mysttic: And now they offer an ereader where their basic function takes a back seat to shitty eye candy Huh? If you mean things like wifi/3G, yes but Kindle and Nook offer these too. But I'm buying the 350 or the 600, so I won't be saddled with redundant extras I already have a computer with wireless).
  
  If you mean infra-red touch which eliminates the extra contrast reducing layer, and makes it possible to add hand written notes to a document (just like to a printed page), or a memory slot (I think only Nook supports this/, or more formats and freedom from a Big Brother bookstore (referring to Kindle)... well, that would be why I'm buying it.

  3.9.2010 09:38 #6

• fmcfm

  Originally posted by KillerBug: Sony is really out of their league here...the Kindle dominates the nook and the nook dominates the sony...if I wanted to have overbearing DRM, high prices, monthly service fees, and low quality, I would buy an iPad. Tell me what has changed since I bought my PRS-505 a couple of yers ago. That Sony model has never incurred monthly service fees, a need for DRM, or quality issues. As far as the price, yes it was expensive then, but so was the Kindle until recently. And the build quality has never been in question.
  
  Just wait for the price reductions and you'll be able to get a no-unneeded-wifi, touch enabled 350 for about the same as the wifi-only, no touch Kindle. Then you'll have access to formats you can't display on the other devices, and the ability to add notes that you can see on the same page that you're reading. Worth it, I'd say.
  

  3.9.2010 09:56 #7

• KillerBug

  The PRS-505 has no 3G access, so there would be no monthly fee.

  3.9.2010 12:00 #8

• blueboy09

  Sony and Apple always overprice their products. People, just because you see a well-known logo on a product doesn't mean you should flock to it. We have seen what these companies have done to shaft its consumers, and it's just plain sick. What happened to companies being fair and just and not being so damned greedy all the time? I simply don't understand what rattles in their brains of these corporate people to make them think that pricing more on a product means more sales. I really scratched my head on this one.
  

  Life is about walking on thin ice, if you make too much drama, youll crack under pressure. - BLUEBOY

  4.9.2010 23:33 #9

• salsa36

  Those Sony people are really smart price increase it's always the best strategy when competitors are lowering the price.

  6.9.2010 21:46 #10