Sony has re-hauled their e-reader line, increasing the price while adding new features.
The new Reader Pocket Edition will cost $179, up from $149 for the last edition.
Sony’s revamped Touch Edition will jump to $229, and the high-end Daily Edition will cost $299.
Each of the devices now features a slimmer and lighter body, more sensitive touchscreens, and higher contrast e-ink screens with better clarity.
Sony’s biggest rivals, the Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook sell for under $150, so Sony may be facing an uphill battle trying to steal market share from cheaper and more established devices.
Furthermore, B&N and Amazon have repeatedly cut the prices of their devices while updating new features. Just last week, Borders said it was slashing the price of the Aluratek Libre e-readers to $99.99, the first e-reader to drop under the $100 threshold.
Result for: uphill battle
The Business Software Alliance has decided to hijack the “real” cases of piracy that have been highlighted in the mainstream media in the past week for use with its own anti-piracy campaigns. To anybody with half a brain, it is obvious that the same word is used for two totally different things, but it’s not so obvious to the BSA apparently.
We’ve all been following the events of the past week of the pirates off the Horn of Africa. Piracy takes many forms, some more violent than others. I wanted to let you know that the Business Software Alliance is launching a new campaign today “Faces of Internet Piracy” that shows the real-life impact of software piracy…
Those words are from an e-mail sent to Illuminata principal IT advisor Gordon Haff from the BSA. It is quite simply too easy to ridicule, but you can’t help but wonder if it is the product of desperation in an extremely tough uphill battle, or just plain ol’ stupidity. It could of course just be a joke, but we have heard piracy being put up there with serious crimes in the past, because of the economic damage it could inflict.
Result for: uphill battle
MTV has announced the launch of MTVMusic.com, an video site devoted to showing off MTV’s large music video catalog.
The new site includes 16,000 videos, tons of “MTV Uunplugged” performances and exclusive MTV concert footage. MTV says more videos are being added daily and they should have their full catalog up soon.
MTV Networks also has community features using its Flux technology, allowing users to rate videos, comment, and share the code on Facebook, MySpace and other sites.
The broadcaster will have an uphill battle winning market share back from YouTube but overall the new site is very good and should remain popular.
