Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/10/02/sony_prs-505/
Sony e-book Reader turns over new leaf
Bookmark sales slide
2nd October 2007 11:51 GMT
In literary circles, first editions are often highly prised. However, Sony hopes the second edition of its Reader digital book, the PRS-505, will prove more popular than its predecessor, thanks to what it claimed was a much better display.
Sony's PRS-505: paperback wiper?
The PRS-505 uses E Ink's latest display technology (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/05/10/e_ink_revamps_e_paper/), which is able to show eight levels of grey instead of the previous version's four. It also updates the image on display in around half the time and has a 25 per cent greater brightness. However, the screen is still the same 6in size as featured on the earlier model, the PRS-500.
Most of the PRS-505's additional updates are purely aesthetic. Some option buttons have been moved from the bottom of the screen to its left-hand side. Two additional "page flick" buttons, also on the left-hand side, have been created, which Sony claims makes for faster and more intuitive page - in short, mimicking a real book.
The PRS-505 features the same 800MHz Intel Celeron processor, 128MB of memory and 20MB hard drive that its predecessor had. Once again, the device has a battery life quoted as around 7500 page turns and promised to ship it with at least a USB 1.1 or faster port. The latest model comes bundled with an external CD-Rom drive.
Sony's PRS-505: judge it by its cover?
Sony claims the PRS-505 stores about 160 books on its internal hard drive, with users able to transfer content onto it from a range of sources, such as the company's online e-book store. It can also be used as a portable hard drive, allowing users to store, say, documents and images on the device by hooking it up to their PC via USB.
North American bookworms can take the PRS-505 home this month for around $300 (£150/€190), with a choice of silver or blue colours. No European release date or price has yet been announced.