Sony Debuts Touchscreen Reader... The PRS-700!!!!!!!

by **J The Kidd** Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:16 pm

Until now digital readers have been a great idea whose time hasn’t
quite come. The good news: every new model gets better, and Sony’s
latest Reader, the PRS-700, is the company's best yet. It has the
dimensions of a slim paperback book and weighs a very portable 10
ounces. Better still, it has a touchscreen, letting you flip pages with
the slide of a finger. The new model also adds LED reading lights on
the sides of the 6-inch screen, making it easy to read in a darkened
airplane cabin. Of course, that's going to suck your battery faster,
draining it after just 8 hours (or 4 on the high setting).

The onboard memory can store about 350 books, and there are card
slots for SD and Memory Stick Duo media. With the included eBook
Library 2.5 PC software, it's easy to transfer pdf documents and even
music files to the Reader. Another handy feature: you can highlight
text and add footnotes. Down the road there are plans for a wireless
application (à la Amazon's Kindle) to get news on the go and generally
expand the 700’s functionality. Right now it's strictly black and
white, though. When pressed on when we could expect a color Reader,
Sony reps would only say it's still "years" away. But the mono-colored
PRS-700 will be available in November for $400.