Sony Reader

[X.]

I got really excited about the Sony Reader the first time I read about it a couple of months ago.

Sony has almost lost its place in the portable music player market to iPod despite inventing the technology with the first Walkman. So they decided to create demand in another place.

I think there's a real need for a device that lets you read ebooks on the go in a way that is book-like. The Sony Reader has great features, and the focus of R&D was to bring the experience as close to actual book reading as possible. (For starters its almost the size of a paperback albeit lighter and very very sleek.)

The Readers are selling only in the US for now - through Borders (which recently opened its first branch in Dubai at the Mall of the Emirates) and the Sony Style US stores.

Read more here

[X.]

For people afraid of clicking links here's some interesting info from the website:

A new way to experience reading.
The Sony Reader boasts an impressive display1, utilizing breakthrough technology that’s almost paper-like. In addition, the text can be magnified for sight-impaired readers. Daylight readable, high contrast, high resolution, near 180º viewing angle.

What is e Ink® Technology?
The Sony® Reader’s display uses e Ink® - a significant improvement over CRT and LCD technology. Instead of rows of glowing cells, e Ink® microcapsules actually appear as either black or white depending on a positive or negative charge determined by the content. The result is a reading experience that’s similar to paper - high contrast, high resolution, viewable in direct sunlight and at a nearly 180-degree angle, and requiring no power to maintain the image. In other words, it's a screen that, like you, is well read.

More than books
Books are just the beginning for the Sony® Reader. It also displays Adobe® PDFs, personal documents, blogs, newsfeeds, and JPEGs with the same amazing readability, It even plays unsecured MP3 and AAC audio files.

[fizz]

With a Palm OS and their native ebook reader and also PDF readers on the device itself, you can get close (or similar) to the same experience of reading books on the go. Personally, I've read entire books on the go and its fun in a novel way, but after sometime I didn't want to go back.I don't think the device will work in isolation (just a personal thought) but more as part of a convergence tool - for e.g. Sony Ericson phone that has the Sony Walkman, Sony Cybershot as well as the new Sony Reader all in one.

[sally]

A friend from the States brought this with her when she was visiting, its fantastic