[Librie] Sony Librie never sold in the US?

[Colin Dunstan]

According to a recent Associated Press news article, Sony is saying that it has no plans to offer its Librie book reader in the United States, where the core technology originated (E-Ink). So you can either go to Japan and buy it there in Japanese letters for $380, or hope that another company will eventually come up with a similar technology (and hopefully without the restrictive DRM the Librie is suffering from). Why is Sony slowly abandoning the Western Hemisphere? First it stopped selling its PDA line, now the Librie...?

[gadgetguru]

I was just wondering whether Japanese buy more of this 'techy' stuffs than Americans do...because Sony is putting out stuffs like the Vaio U mini-tablet PC, The Librie line, and presumably their handheld business back in their home country but not elsewhere. Do these stuffs really sell there? I can see people buying the Vaio U but Librie looks like the failed Rocketbook to me...sure its e-ink...but who cares anyway...

[Brian]

There's an excellent article by Phred Dvorak (filling in for Walter J. Mossberg) in this week's edition of "Personal Technology" in The Wall Street Journal. In it he compares the LIBRIe to the Panasonic SigmaBook and discusses the E Ink technology.

I wouldn't be surprised if the U50/70 and these two ebook readers (especially the LIBRIe) make their way to US shores within the next 6 months despite the track record of ebook readers. Sony will be making an all out push on digital content (great website here) with the PSP and other devices. The LIBRIe or another ebook reader will play a big part of Sony's plan IMHO.

[Colin Dunstan]

Thanks for the WSJ article! I didn't even know about the SigmaBook - does it use the same E-Ink technology like the Sony Librie? And if yes, how does it compare to the latter one?

[Brian]

Originally Posted by Morpheus

Thanks for the WSJ article! I didn't even know about the SigmaBook - does it use the same E-Ink technology like the Sony Librie? And if yes, how does it compare to the latter one?

Morpheus, YW . The SigmaBook uses more conventional LCD technology and apparently has readability issues, according to the article:

"Panasonic opted for an LCD technology that doesn't require a back light or power to maintain a picture. But the blue-on-gray screens offer very poor contrast and are hard to see from an angle."

I find the fact that the WSJ article is reviewing these two Japanese market products a bit curious .