Will Apple challenge Sony’s upcoming ebook due this summer?

Posted by Dennis Sellers Apr 13, 2006 at 1:14pm

With Apple’s continuing iPod successes in the market crushing every competitor’s dreams of launching the next iPod killer, it appears that Sony is just hoping to at least change the public’s never ending thirst for all things iPod – this Christmas!

Something has to slow down the iPod freight train, they pray, and Sony’s hoping to hit a double base hit with their much anticipated PS3 and an all new entry that’s set to launch this summer, called the Sony Reader.

The Sony Reader is a next generation ebook that Sony hopes will finally crack the North American market, which up until now, has basically given ebooks a hardy “two-thumbs down.” Then again, with Microsoft as this category’s leader (and I say that choking with laugher), what the heck did you expect! It seems to me that Microsoft can’t even tie their own shoe laces lately, let alone deliver an appealing product with legs.

However, the promise of the ebook remains, and perhaps now is the time for a winning ebook to emerge. This report presents an overview of Sony’s new ebook and presents a strong case for an Apple entry that could very likely surprise the market in the not too distant future.

About the coming Sony Reader

Sony claims that its breakthrough electronic paper technology provides clarity and resolution that rival paper itself. That their six inch screen is as easy to read in full daylight as indoors and could be viewed from nearly any angle. Forget about reading glasses because Sony’s Reader Zooming could increase text by 200 percent.

The Sony reader is about the size of a paperback, is half an inch thick and weighs in at less than 9 ounces. According to Sony, the rechargeable battery powers through an amazing 7,500 page-turns on one charge or enough to read War and Peace over five times—if you’re dumb enough to attempt that.

The unit itself, according to Sony, will hold up to 80 average size ebook out of the box, with the option to add more content via a Sony MemoryStick or SD card.

The Sony Reader is intended to work seamlessly with their online CONNECT Store, which is a copycat of Apple’s iTMS.

Beyond eBooks

Beyond ebooks, Sony’s Reader will also provide consumers with added functionality so that you could carry and display Adobe PDF’s, personal documents, blogs, newsfeeds (RSS) and JPEGs with the same Reader’s Zoom features and so forth.

Sony’s Reader will also enable users to store MP3 music files but make no reference to handling video or photos, being that it’s limited to black and white. Not that it’s required for an ebook, mind you, as some prefer a dedicated device. Then again, a wireless device that’s able to access an online store should also be able to surf the net in general where indeed video could be practical.

To see an enlargement of the Sony CONNECT Store graphic, click here.

Sony uses E Ink technology

The Sony Reader’s display uses E Ink – a significant improvement over CRT and LCD technology. Instead of rows of glowing cells, E Ink® microcapsules actually appear as either black or white depending on a positive or negative charge determined by the content. The result is a reading experience that’s similar to paper – high contrast, high resolution, viewable in direct sunlight and at a nearly 180-degree angle, and requiring no power to maintain the image. In other words, it’s a screen that, like you, is well read.

According to E Ink, electronic paper technology will enable a new generation of personal devices with the following display benefits:

Ultra high contrast: The display is made up of pure black and pure white particles which allow the same contrast as found on a printed page; twice the contrast, in fact, of an LCD panel. It can be easily read in either bright sunlight or in dimly lit environments.

Ultra thin/flexible: The display is much thinner than is possible with any conventional display technology, analog or digital. The display can also be flexible allowing designs never before achievable.

Low power consumption: Since the display is readable under very low light conditions, no backlighting is required. The display also has an inherently stable ‘memory effect’ that requires no power to maintain an image. For these reasons, battery life can be extended.

For a current overview of customers using E Ink, you could view this page. Noteworthy are devices from Jinke Electronics,, which clunkily adds a secondary touch screen display for editing, and a rather cool concept prototype from Phillips dubbed the Readius.

The general ideas behind these types of displays were previously presented in my March report titled “Apple, scrollable displays and iPod shades.” However, the Readius prototype illustrations are superior in that they give you a better visualization of how its size relates to that of an iPod. Hmm, come to think of it, if any of you were fans of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict TV series, then for sure you’d recognize this cool type of communications device that was used throughout that series for video conferencing in addition to reading documents.

Will Apple challenge the Sony Reader?

Making a case for Apple challenging the upcoming Sony Reader ebook/tablet can be done on so many levels, that’s it’s virtually a no-brainer. Publishing is a core market of Apple’s, and they’ll certainly defend that position to the best of their ability. Whether Apple will decide to introduce an all new e-book device or simply add it to their iPod line-up, is neither here nor there.

To back that up, the facts supporting this position were made abundantly clear throughout the first quarter of 2006. This is when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed a series of new Apple patents regarding touch screen technologies and a tablet PC doubling as an ebook.

Within those patents, Apple revealed a plethora of advanced features that would certainly dwarf those found in Sony’s first iteration of their Reader, such as giving the user the ability to access Apple’s online iTunes Music Store via simple touch screen commands. More specifically and in context to an ebook, patent number 20060026535 titled “Mode-based graphical user interfaces for touch sensitive input devices,” – describes initiating “page turns… .associated with an electronic book.” Further on, the patent goes on to describe a new multiple-page-swipe technology that will allow users to virtually-flip through pages quickly as they naturally do today with a magazine or technical book etc.

Apple’s patents went further still by illustrating that they fully intend to integrate a number of their internet applications or iApps such as iTunes and iPhoto into a future e-book in order to provide the consumer with a richer multimedia experience beyond mere e-books. In fact, one ebook feature described a pop-up virtual keyboard on screen so as to provide users with an easier way to reply to emails received rather than relying on a stylus alone. I think that most users probably type faster than they could tap with a stylus. Maybe that’s just me. But having a choice to work either way should be appreciated by most.

For the sake of convenience and brevity, I’ve included links to all of Apple’s latest patents below, if you’re interested in learning more about what Apple has on their roadmap concerning an e-book and/or tablet.

What’s missing

There are of course some missing pieces in this puzzle, being that we don’t know if Apple would consider working with E Ink or the seemingly more advanced Universal Display Corporation that offers full color and video. Though considering the extent of Apple’s e-book vision, I don’t think that limiting an ebook to just a black and white display is really an option, unless of course Apple is forced into an evolutionary roll out as technology dictates. Time will tell.

Secondly, Apple oddly offers the Zinio Reader with their new Intel MacBook’s but not on their Intel based iMacs, according to Apple’s online Store specifications. So it’s a little hard to say at this point in time as to whether Apple has a new ebook Reader technology on the way via Leopard or whether they’ll partner with Zinio or another player.

However, the Apple Doctrine, as recorded by BusinessWeek in late 2004, is simple. Jobs stated that “I’ve always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do.” Close to a year later, MacWorld UK recorded Steve Jobs stating that “No other company does it all. The PC ecosystem where one company makes the hardware another makes the software doesn’t work, we do all of them”, he added.” So if the Apple Doctrine prevails, then I’d be expecting some kind of news concerning an advanced e-book reader by the time Leopard rolls out.

As far as content goes, I don’t have the foggiest idea as to what Sony will be offering in terms of books and magazines, but I can tell you that Apple already has support from the world’s leading newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, BusinessWeek, Wired Magazine and so forth on the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) today, along with a huge list of audiobooks. Being that Apple is working with the leading Music studios, I can’t see why Apple couldn’t line up the world’s largest book publishers being that Apple’s WebObjects Consulting Group has been working with the Design and Publishing Markets since 1998. Again, time will tell.

The bottom line

So, in my opinion, the bottom line on this matter is that Apple will be offering e-books on their iTunes Music Store in the not too distant future along with an advanced device to accommodate the needs of readers in many ways. Be it an all-new device or simply a new iPod entry, a solution is on the way. And although the Sony Reader sounds interesting enough, I think that Apple’s reputation with the iPod will easily carry the day with consumers, if they don’t delay on delivering such a device that is.

I think that ebooks and online magazines will be a huge winner for Apple’s iTMS, especially if they time it right for the Christmas season, when books and magazine subscriptions are highly sought for stocking stuffers.

Additionally, the news that Amazon is now preparing to enter the Music distribution business on their own is almost an indication in and of itself that they’ve been made fully aware of Apple’s intentions of entering the e-book business – and they’re not too pleased. Then again, who in that business would be? They know all too well, that If Apple succeeds at providing users and their iTune minions with the option of easily purchasing e-books, magazines and newspapers at their world famous iTunes Music Store combined that with an advanced e-book device to view such content on, then it’s all but game over for many a competitor in that field! Can you say, Domino!

Yes, Apple’s whole widget doctrine could very well do it again for them in a whole new market. Yet a market that’s been a core market of theirs for decades: Publishing. In fact, it could very well be a 2 for 1 market hit, being that books play right into Apple’s other core strength: Education.

And lastly, Deborah Conrad, vice president and director of Team Apple at Intel, spoke to a group of CNET editors and reporters recently and stated that “as for an Intel chip inside an iPod, “I don’t think you’re going to see anything soon. But when it comes to future gadgets other than the iPod, “that’s where we get very, very excited. Yes, other than an iPod, like an ebook perhaps? Yes, of course.

So will Apple challenge Sony’s new Sony Reader ebook/tablet? Yes, and they’ll even challenge Amazon while they’re at it. My only hope is that Apple will deliver both a cool new e-book and an iPod with telephony this Christmas. Maybe I’m asking for too much. Then again, I’ve just emailed Santa with a simple note: Hire more elves!
If you have an opinion on this topic, then please email me at neo@macsimumnews.com
Patent reports on touch screen displays and tablets:

Buzz: Apple’s new accelerometer patent reveals a stunning tablet PC

Buzz: Apple’s new patent reveals a unique gaming tablet application

More on Apple’s touch sensitive display for iTunes, iPhoto & ebook

Apple’s touch displays may go into commercial and industrial applications

Apple patents display leap frog concepts for touch sensitive displays

Virtual input device placement on a touch screen user interface

Apple files patent for ‘Visual expander’

Apple files yet another touch screen patent

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