Sony announced an update to its electronic book device this morning; the PRS 505 will retail for around $300 and be available in silver or dark blue. Improvements over the prior version include a faster response time and higher contrast ratio, which should aid outdoor readers. Also new is the native ability to use the PRS 505 as a USB storage drive with the included USB cable. Sounds like Sony has worked on improving the content sychronization; you can use the auto-sync function to move books and folders automatically when connecting the PRS 505 to a host PC.
I still think $300 is relatively expensive for a nearly single use device, but over time, we’ve seen additional features added in to eBook readers. It’s not unheard of to listen to music or browse the web on some models and the eBook communities are often working on ways to tweak their devices. I’m still in the camp of using a UMPC or handheld device to read my eBooks, however. I’m already carrying a device capable of reading books, so I’ll stick with that for now. How about you?
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