Thursday, July 24,2008 @ 8:30am
Sony Reader adds universal format, gets red model
Sony today said that its Reader Digital Book will be the first e-book reader ever to support the new EPUB format. The standard is one of the first to be accepted by multiple major publishers and permits both locked-down and unprotected books that automatically reflow to fit the screen or particular fonts. The software update also adds support for protected Adobe e-books and now reflows basic PDFs on the fly.
Users also have their choice of how to load books, according to Sony; in addition to an updated version of the company's own eBook Library app, those running Adobe Digital Editions can also load books on to the e-paper device.
Adobe support is available today as a download from Sony's support site, while EPUB support arrives next month. At the same time, the company also expects to release a limited-run version of the Reader in a red tint that also comes preloaded with the new feature support. Pricing stays the same at $300.