Sony launching 13.3-inch E Ink PDF reader in Japan

On 3 December, Sony Japan will be launching the DPT-S1: a 13.3-inch E Ink reader for PDFs, aimed at the student market.

Sony Japan will launch the largest E Ink reader to date on 3 December, the 13.3-inch A4-sized DPT-S1 announced earlier this year.

The large format is designed to display what you would normally see on a sheet of paper, avoiding having to reflow (something, incidentally, Sony's e-readers have done for years where others have not) or the clunky zoom and pan.

The large display will have a resolution of about 150ppi (1200x1600 pixels), and packed inside will be 4GB of memory, expandable via microSD card; a battery with about three weeks of power; and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n support. All up, it measures 233x3106.8 millimetres and weighs in at 359 grams.

It's targeted at students and professionals and only has support for the PDF file type. This means that EPUB, MOBI, LIT and other ebook file types will not work on the DPT-S1, although DRM-free ebook files could potentially be converted using Calibre. The device will also ship with a stylus so that you can write directly on to the screen or use a virtual keyboard. You can also save your edited PDF as a separate file, keeping a clean original copy.

Business and educational facilities can also distribute documents via Wi-Fi from a centralised server.

According to Good e-Reader, the DPT-S1 is being launched to Japan as a test market for the rest of the world, with plans to roll out to Canada and Europe in April 2014.