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Sony has announced that its newest e-reader will be arriving in Australia for a suggested retail price of AU$149.
(Credit: Sony)
The next-generation Sony e-reader will be available in Australia through the Sony online store as of Monday, 9 September, the company has announced.
The e-reader — which was not mentioned during the IFA press conference — beats both the upcoming Kobo Aura and the new Kindle Paperwhite, both of which are due next month, to the Australian market.
True to this week’s leaked specs, the PRS-T3 does not include a built-in light. Instead, it has an integrated snap case that is included with the e-reader, so you no longer have to purchase a separate one — unless, that is, you want that portable light, which comes attached to a separate case.
The snap case is pretty cool — all you have to do is close it to put your e-reader to sleep — but Sony has indeed dispensed with the stylus, meaning you have to make all your notes with your finger.
As we saw yesterday, the 6-inch screen now has an HD resolution of 1024×758 (212dpi) with 16-level greyscale, and uses E Ink Pearl v220. Battery life has been upgraded from six weeks to two months, both of which are in line with the specs of the Kobo Aura and Kindle Paperwhite. It takes about two hours to charge completely from zero via a power adapter, but just three minutes will give it enough power to read 600 pages, according to Sony.
On-board, it has 2GB of memory, expandable up to an extra 32GB via microSD, and can be charged and connected to a computer via micro USB. For browsing the web, buying books and borrowing from the library, it connects to Wi-Fi via IEEE 802.11b/g/n.
At 200 grams, the case makes it a bit heavier than its predecessor, the PRS-T2, which weighed in at 164 grams, but it’s still pretty compact: 160x109x11.3 millimetres.
It also has dictionaries included: English, French, Spanish, German and 10 bilingual dictionaries.
Sony’s Readers have always provided an excellent reading experience, but the company’s refusal to include a built-in light could put the PRS-T3 on the back foot compared to the upcoming AU$189 Kobo Aura and US$139 Kindle Paperwhite; although the latter two will be more costly (once you factor in currency conversion and shipping for the Paperwhite), it’s a feature e-reader aficionados love.
Stay tuned for our full review.
