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Sony's PRS-350 e-reader just misses greatness

In 2009, Sony was one of the few digital reader manufacturers to release a model with a 5-inch screen--an inch smaller than the standard 6-incher found on the Nook and Kindle. Now the same model--the Pocket Edition--is back in a sleeker, more compact package, and with more internal memory (2GB). Just as importantly, it now sports a touch-screen interface along with the new higher-contrast E Ink Pearl display found in the latest Amazon Kindle and Kindle DX.

That the PRS-350 Pocket Edition Reader, which weighs a mere 5.64 ounces and measures a very compact 5.71 inches tall by … Read more

Sony takes on Kindle with next-gen e-readers

Maybe the third time's the charm for Sony. After two tries at touch-screen e-readers, the company has officially unveiled its latest generation of Readers, and this go-round Sony's engineers have finally gotten it right--at least the touch-screen part.

As the rumors suggested, Sony is basically upgrading all three of its Readers with new technology, leading with the new higher-contrast E-Ink Pearl display, which is used in the latest Amazon Kindle and Kindle DX. In the upgrade, the smaller 5-inch Pocket Edition goes from PRS-300 to PRS-350 and the Touch Edition goes from PRS-600 to PRS-650. Those models will retail for $179.99 and $229.99 respectively and are available now.

Meanwhile, the larger Daily Edition PRS-950, which features an 7-inch screen along with built-in Wi-Fi and 3G wireless from AT&T, will list for "about" $299.99 and hit stores in November.

Yes, you heard right, only the top-end model has built-in wireless, which seems a bit odd when both the Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook cost less than the Sony Touch Edition and have built-in Wi-Fi and 3G. And both the Kindle and Nook now come in Wi-Fi-only versions for less than $150.

On a more positive note, we had a chance to play around with the new Reader models, and the touch-screen interface--and the screen itself--has been improved to the point where we can say it's finally hit its stride. Sony has managed to remove a layer of screen protection that previously hurt the contrast (the letters weren't as dark as on the Kindle or Nook) and caused glare issues due to increased reflectivity. Those matters appear to be resolved, though we'll wait till we get our hands on a review sample before making a final verdict.

While the touch screen may not be quite as responsive as the iPhone's, it's more responsive than it was, and, as we've said before, this type of interface is ideal for e-readers because it allows the designers to cut down on buttons and whittle the device down to just slightly bigger than the screen itself. You can also mark up text with the included stylus and turn pages with a swipe of a finger.

The 5-inch Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350 is small and lightweight, weighs 5.64 ounces, and is only .33 inch thick. Sony has also increased the built-in memory to 2GB.

Here are the PRS-350's key specs: … Read more

Netgear to ship HD network media players

There have been a slew of network high-def digital media players on the market lately, and soon there are going to be even more.

Netgear announced Tuesday two new HD media players: the NeoTV 350 HD and the NeoTV 550 Ultimate. Similar to the Seagate GoFlex TV or the WD TV Live Plus, the NeoTV players are designed to play back digital content stored on USB external hard drives, network storage devices, or the Internet.

According to Netgear, the new players support both DLNA and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) streaming standards, video resolution up to 1080p with Dolby Digital, … Read more

New Sony Readers coming soon?

With both Amazon and Barnes & Noble announcing new e-readers and price cuts in recent weeks, we've been waiting for Sony to bring out its next-generation e-readers.

Well, rumor has it that we're weeks away from that happening, as the blog Sony Insider is reporting that Sony will announce two new e-readers, the PRS-350 and PRS-650.

According to Sony Insider's "most trusted sources," the new e-readers will both be e-ink touch-screen models, with a very slim design (10mm), expanded internal memory (2GB), user-interface tweaks, and "competitive pricing." The report states that the PRS-350 … Read more

Sony's new sound bars get the 3D treatment

We've been longtime fans of Sony's HT-CT100 sound bar home theater system, as it's the only system of its kind we're aware of that offers extensive HDMI connectivity for a bargain-level price. Sony's now announced two successor products, the HT-CT150 and HT-CT350, updating the HDMI connectivity to handle 3D video signals. Here are the details we could glean from the press release.

Key features of the Sony HT-CT150:

3.1-channel sound bar home theater system 340 watts of total system power 32 inches long Three HDMI inputs, all 3D-compatible HDMI pass-through in standby mode Two … Read more

Samsung TL350 goes high speed and full HD

On your digital camera, do you hate having to stop recording a movie just to capture a still photo? Apparently this irks enough consumers that Samsung added a Dual Capture feature to its new TL350 compact camera. Start recording a movie (at resolutions up to 1080p no less) and you can simultaneously snap 10-megapixel photos. Hopefully it doesn't leave a big hole in your movie while the camera captures the still.

In case that's not exciting enough for you, the camera is built around a backside-illuminated CMOS sensor. In other cameras, this type of sensor has improved low-light … Read more

ZTE F350 outed by Bluetooth SIG

We haven't heard of ZTE devices in a while, so it's interesting that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has recently approved a never-seen-before ZTE F350 for its device database. It clearly has the Verizon branding and logo on it, so we know where this one is going. However, we don't really know a lot about it--there's little indication if it's a slider or a flip phone or if it has a QWERTY keyboard or a regular keypad.

We do know some of its features--voice command, Bluetooth, 1xRTT, and a camera--but that's about it. It … Read more