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Sony announced its new ereader today -- and, no, you're not reading an article lifted from TheOnion. In an ereader landscape thoroughly dominated by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, Sony continues to vie for the smallest scraps of relevance. This won't be an easy sell for the company, as the PRS-T2 is priced higher than the comparable Kindle Touch and Nook Simple Touch, and lacks the powerhouse book libraries of Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
The PRS-T2 features a 6-inch touchscreen inside a 6.75-inch enclosure. Available now, the digital reader connects to Sony's Reader Store for books, and supports ePub and PDF files. The ePub feature, an open standard for self-publishing, is something the Kindle is sorely lacking, and the SD card slot is a welcome addition. But are these two features enough to woo consumers?
At $129, the new ereader has already lost the price war. The Nook Simple Touch is $99, while the Kindle Touch with special offers (ads) is $99. The add-free Kindle Touch does clock in at $139, $10 more than the PRS-T2, so Sony does beat Amazon's price for consumers who refuse to be inundated with ads while their e-readers sleep on coffee tables.
The PRS-T2 also features a one-button solution to borrowing books from libraries that support the Overdrive book lending system. This is a welcome change from the Kindle's method of sending books from a computer.
The stylus and drawing capabilities of previous Sony ereaders get upgrades as well -- users can now draw directly on the pages of books. Still, drawing capabilities and quick access to library books won't solve Sony's biggest obstacles: almost non-existant mainstream mindshare, and a book catalog that can't compare to those of the two heavyweights.
Amazon's online store is a juggernaut. It will be tough for Sony to convince customers eschew ebooks from the same company that already sells them video games, deodorant and Blu-rays. Tackling the Barnes & Noble ecosystem would be only slightly easier.
And finally, where's the light? The Nook Simple Touch with Glow Light is an already great e-reader made outstanding thanks to its illuminated screen. Amazon is expected to release a Kindle that glows in the coming months. For Sony to release an e-ink e-reader without built-in lighting seems completely self-defeating.
