Sony + new mobile device = Mylo

[Stuart Young]

While we're all waiting for the PRS-500 (aka The Sony Portable Reader) to hit the streets. Sony have released another new device for us to salivate over.

Priced at $350, Sony will bundle microphone/earphones for use with the VOIP functions VOIP functions. Music/Video content to be transferred from a PC (Presumably via Sony Connect software) Internet access is gained via WiFi. Users will need access to their own access point or will have to pay for access via a commercial hotspot. Supported WiFi security includes: WPA-PSK,WEP.TSK.

Dubbed the "mylo Personal Communicator" it comes loaded with the following features:

Hardware Specs

- 802.11b wireless networking
- arm 9 processor
- slide-out QWERTY keyboard
- 2.4in, 320 x 240 colour display
- 1GB On-board Memory
- memory Stick Pro Duo (slot)
- 45 Hours Music Playback (Memory Stick Pro Duo memory cards

Bundled software:

- Skype
- GoogleTalk
- Yahoo
- Opera Browser
- Music Playback; WMA,WMA DRM, ATRAC3, MP3,
- Video: MPEG4

Official Sony Press Release available here.

[lordvetinari2]

This thing is more powerful than the Nokia 770, but it is completely closed software.

No 802.11g, no Bluetooth, tiny screen & resolution...

Anyway, in my country there are not enough WiFi hotspots. If it also had mobile phone capabilities, then it would really make a difference. After all, I am no Doraemon, my pockets have a limit!

I read about this in Engadget & Gizmodo, and it looks like most technogeeks there are very biased against some brands. For them, if it is not from Apple, then it is ugly. Plus, they totally hate Sony. Is this a normal attitude in the States?

They don't seem to understand the concept of e-ink, either. They think the pageturns are too slow (1-2s), that a PDA is faster. *sigh*

[Laurens]

Looks like a specialized version of the PSP. Not sure if it's more powerful than the 770. For one, its display is much smaller.

[yvanleterrible]

With all the recent passion floating about towards smartphones and PDAs, and since the prs-500 is not yet out, I decided to recind my judgement and go back to the computer and phone resellers and have a look.

There is talk of eliminating PDAs and delegating their tasks to smartphones. But with that same move the screens will drastically shrink, even though they were already too small. Also each tool is provided with so many useless bells & whistles that they become crowded and diminished in their quickness of use. Sorry! I don't ring and toot anymore...well... not on a computer...

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by lordvetinari2

I read about this in Engadget & Gizmodo, and it looks like most technogeeks there are very biased against some brands. For them, if it is not from Apple, then it is ugly. Plus, they totally hate Sony. Is this a normal attitude in the States?

They don't seem to understand the concept of e-ink, either. They think the pageturns are too slow (1-2s), that a PDA is faster. *sigh*

Well, it is a reasonably common attitude in some U.S. circles. Apple has kind of an underdog mystique, never mind that they're so "under" primarily because they pursued some truly bone-head marketing strategies in the '80s (when they were at least as strong as IBM compatables).

About all Apple had going for it for a long while were really nice esthetics and a core of amazingly die-hard faithfulls. Now they have the iPod, and everyone's getting excited about their "come-back" -- in fact they still have a long way back to come.

I suppose you have to admit that PDA screens do refresh faster. Of course, that really high refresh rate (and backlighting) make them strainful to read on, not to mention the really small screen size. Although ... now that I think about it, by the time you read an amount of text on on a PDA equivalent to a single e-ink screen (even the 6" one, let alone the 8") you've probably approached a second's worth of page flipping!

Some folks simply have trouble wrapping their minds around how truly revolutionary e-ink is. They compare it to PDA's, which are inadequate for that purpose in the first place, instead of comparing it to a paper book, the gold (paper?) standard.

Yes, it does take .5~1 seconds to flip an e-page -- how long does it take to flip a paper page? What about when the pages want to stick together? Mmm-hmm, 1 second looks a little less bothersome that way, doesn't it? Ghosting? Yeah we got all het up about ghosting around here a few weeks back -- until someone pointed out the ghosting on paper pages that we've all managed to live with, somehow, for years.

If someone has unrealistic expectations, they sometimes can't let go of them easily. Most will do so when confronted with the reality, but some will just be too stubborn to admit that maybe they weren't thinking about it right.

In the meantime, we'll be enjoying our e-ink readers.

Don't worry, after I've seen the reality of what e-ink is ... well, let's just say it really does speak for itself.



@yvanleterrible: Smart phones seem to be mostly moving more in the Treo/Blackberry direction for form-factor at the moment, so maybe there's hope for them.

[yvanleterrible]

You're right about the ghosting on older printed matter , some were more smeared than printed, and acidic paper is so yellow that it absorbs light. Combine both factors and you get a tiring read.
If you read Alex's post on the David A. Bell Iliad review, you'll see a comment on how the screen is grayer than paper, but at least it will never yellow.
About that bit on the time it takes to turn a page... I'm an avid reader and as soon as I've turned a page, my fingers are already under the next one. Blink of an eye...done.