Sony reader

Freescale announced today a new processor called i.MX508 targeted for e-readers. The processor is based on an ARM A8 core and includes an E Ink controller. Freescale says that the chip is fast (800Mhz), efficient and cheap (less than $10 in large volumes). In fact they say that this chip can enable $150 e-readers.

The new chip is faster than Freescale's previous e-reader chips (used in the Amazon Kindle and Sony's Readers, for example) which can result in faster page refresh and can enable new features. As the chip includes an E Ink controller, USB and NAND memory it can help reduce the price of the final product.

Interestingly, the chip includes a special e-reader power mode, in which it can turn-off when users are reading a page to save power, and only operate at full-speed when users want to turn a page or perform an operation. 

The i.MX508 is expected to sample in 3Q 2010, and freescale (together with E Ink) are offering a dev-platform (called SABRE) which costs $1995 and is available now.

Via E-Reader-Info

The Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300) is now available for 199$. This is a budget e-reader with a 5" E Ink display,512Mb internal memory, USB 2.0 and no wireless connections.

The PRS-300 is now available for 199$. 

Via E-Reader-Info

AUO says that its e-paper displays will be better, and much cheaper than available today, using its large-size production capabilities. In fact, they expect e-book readers prices to fall in half within two years - and they see a 100$ reader by 2011.

AUO also expects to supply both Sony and Amazon with ePaper displays.

Via Engadet

Gizmodo posted an interesting review of Sony's new E-readers. And they are not very happy. The Reader daily edition has a lot of features, but they say that the glare on the touchscreen is simply terrible. The pocket device (PRS-300) is said to be lacking a lot of features - such as an SD card slot, a dictionary or a search function.

Sony has officially announced the two new E-Readers, the PRS-300 and PRS-600. The PRS-200 is a budget device, priced at 199$, which is the cheapest e-reader available.

Sony also says they will soon launch a reader with wireless (Wi-Fi) connections.

Sony has posted service manuals for two new and announced e-readers... and of course someone found out and posted them. The first is the PRS-300 with a 5" display, 440MB of user storage. The second is the PRS-600, with a 6" touchscreen, audio support, 380MB of storage and SD/MS slots.

Via engadget

Sony says that over one million public-domain books are now available for their e-readers (PRS-505 and PRS-700). Sony is using Google's Books project for these books, which are available in EPUB format.

Amazon has over 300,000 titles in their Kindle store, and Barnes & Nobles, which recently announced their own online bookstore, has over 700,000 titles, out of which more than 500,000 are public domain, also powered by the Google Books project.