Press release -
Sony turns up the heat in digital reading with stylish new Readers
Continuing to provide book lovers with the most natural, immersive digital reading experience, Sony today announced the launch of two stylish new digital book Readers for UK, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, France, Austria and Switzerland. The new Reader Pocket Edition™ and Reader Touch Edition™ digital books feature a host of new design and technology enhancements that make them the perfect device for any reader’s lifestyle.
“Today, we’re excited to announce not just the availability of the new Reader Touch Edition and Pocket Editions in the European countries we already serve, but also plans to expand to the previously untapped markets in Italy and Spain,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony Electronics’ Digital Reading Business Division. “These beautifully designed, full touch screen devices incorporate 12 built-in dictionaries to greatly enhance the digital reading experience for readers in Europe.”
The new Reader models bring a fresh level of flair to e-reading with colorful, elegant aluminum designs, and all new, highly responsive touch screens. They are ultra-slim and light enough to go with you absolutely anywhere. “The success of our previous line of Readers illustrates book lovers’ demand for feature choices and full touch screens on their digital reading devices,” said Haber. “Today, we’re answering their call for more by providing two beautifully designed, full touch screen devices with a variety of features and price points.”
What’s New
The new generation of Readers builds on the popularity of last year’s line. For 2010 Sony has restyled both devices, reduced their size and weight, and made its responsive touch screens available across both lines. Both models come with 2 GB of onboard memory, which allows you to carry up to 1,200 of your favorite books.
Touch Screen for Everyone
o Based on the popularity of the full touch screen Reader Touch Edition, Sony equipped the entire line of new Readers with improved, optical touch screen technology designed specifically for reading on a digital screen. The new, first-to-market technology enhances easy and intuitive navigation of digital books, and increases reading clarity, creating an immersive reading experience. Book lovers can now explore their favourite books, highlighting and annotating as they read with the swipe of a finger or stylus pen.
o The new Reader line is more global than ever, offering users the ability to look up words and phrases with the built in New Oxford American and Oxford Dictionary of English eDictionaries, as well as 10 translation dictionaries to and from English in languages such as French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch. This gives book lovers the opportunity to enjoy content in a variety of European languages, perfect for those interested in popular international authors or looking to learn and sharpen foreign language skills. Wordsmiths across the globe can also now create “word logs” to track the words they’ve looked up in both chronological and book order, while quickly switching between dictionaries.
Improved E Ink Displays
o Both devices utilize E Ink® Pearl electronic paper displays with high contrast technology, which delivers a paper-like display that is readable in direct sunlight. The screens offer a high contrast ratio with 16 levels of grayscale, ensuring that text and images are crisp and easy to read.
A Reader Pocket Edition that Will Wow You
o The new Reader Pocket Edition sports a five-inch, full touch screen and, with its incredibly small, thin and lightweight design, it easily slips into a purse or jacket pocket for convenient, on-the-go reading. It is available in a range of colours; silver, pink and blue.
A New Reader Touch Edition More of Everything Readers Love
o The new Reader Touch Edition features a six-inch full touch screen for fast and intuitive navigation of books. In addition, the Touch Edition offers expansion slots for up to 32GB of additional memory, which translates into tens of thousands of eBooks, and the ability to play MP3 and AAC audio files. It will be available in a range of colours; black, silver and red .
Additional New Features Across the Entire Line
o New features allow for easier reading of PDF or personal documents. Intuitive content zoom, adjustable contrast and brightness control, as well as automatic multiple page creation will make documents designed for a standard sheet of paper easier to read on a smaller screen. Personalised standby screen options will allow users to use their favorite photos as a screen saver and collections functionality will allow them to group their favorite reads.
The Reader Pocket and Touch Editions will be available with accessories such as AC adaptors, cases and covers with reading lights.
Supporting multiple digital publishing formats, including the widely used EPUB format, the new generation of Readers ensures readers have the freedom to buy, borrow or get eBooks for free from a wide range of places, including eBookstores.
For information regarding pricing and availably of the new Reader models in Europe, please contact the below Sony representatives for the respective markets.
United Kingdom
Jessica Simpson
Netherlands
Hans Den Heijer
Germany
Petra Schultze
Austria/Switzerland
Fiona Flannery
France
Marion Poitrinal
Spain
Gemma Balsells
Italy
Cristina Papis
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