Looks like Amazon‘s Kindle has got some competition.
Sony announced two new e-readers today, The Reader Pocket Edition and The Reader Touch Edition. The Pocket is small (5-inch screen) and lightweight, whereas the Touch has a (surprise!) touch screen, an onboard Oxford American English Dictionary, multiple font sizes to choose from, and the ability to save notes that you make while reading.
The readers are priced at $199 and $299 respectively, making The Pocket the most inexpensive e-reader on the market.
Sweetening the pot is a deal that grants Sony’s users access to Google’s public domain library for free. “Add it up and Sony will have access to more than 1 million books.”
Downsides? Unlike the Kindle these devices do not have wireless capability, though Sony says they “will have an answer [for that] shortly.” Also, exactly like the Kindle, they haven’t come up with a way to capture that new book smell so many of us hold dear.
