The aptly named Reader is a fresh innovation by Sony that every booklover will want to get their hands on.
With a built in flash memory of 192mb, Reader can hold up to 160 e-books. It's slim, compact, lighter and thinner than a paperback book, weighing just 9oz and measuring a thickness of 8mm. It sure beats carrying around something as big and heavy as War and Peace.
Reader uses e-ink® technology and utilises an 8-level grey scale, creating a look of traditional print on its 6 inch screen. There is no concern about straining your eyes by reading your e-books from this display as it has no back-light and no flicker, "giving the experience of reading a true paper page". Unlike similar devices, such as mobiles or mp4 players, the screen can even be viewed in bright sunlight.
Reader is easy to use, with a clear and simple menu. It allows you to skip pages, and jump to any chapter at the touch of a button. The magnifying function allows you to zoom in on text and the handy book-marking button means you'll never lose your place when you're at that critical point in the story. Searching for an e-book in Reader's built-in library couldn't be easier; search by author, title or date in little to no time.
The software included enables you to manage your e-book library on your PC or laptop. Purchase e-books from Waterstones.com, import these to your PC's library and transfer them to Reader via the provided USB cable. Reader displays the e-book files; epub and bbeb. And will also display common text files including Adobe PDF, MS Word, txt and rtf.
If 160 e-books is somehow not enough, Reader has the capacity for a memory stick duo or SD memory card that will enable thousands of e-books to be stored on this device.
Reader uses a long life lithium-ion battery. Sony says, "Enjoy nearly 7000 page turns without re-charging". The battery can be fully charged in 2 hours with the included mains AC adapter, or in 4 hours by the USB cable.
Reader also has a 3.5mm stereo mini jack for headphones. "But why?" I hear you ask, "It's for e-books". I feel it's always nice to listen to some relaxing music to set the mood for your story, and so did the creators behind this gadget, because Reader can store MP3 or AAC files, allowing you to listen to your favourite music tracks while you read.
Another nice addition is that Reader also stores and displays stores common image file types, such as jpeg, gif, bmp and png. However images will only be displayed in black and white, so I think I'd rather leave the photos on a camera where they belong.
Reader is for PC only and not available for Mac.
Reader will out in early September 2008 and can be pre-ordered from Sony Style online store. It will cost you £199. Reader will come will 100 free classic e-books thrown in by Sony and Waterstones, and it also comes with a soft tan case.