Sony recently announced a new e book reader by the end of the year, a day before apple was all set to launch its iPad in Japan, Sony’s home turf. Also, Sony also plans to launch an e-book content distribution service in Japan that would encompass comics, magazines, newspapers in addition to books to tap into the lucrative domestic market for e-book readers.
Sony, which sells its e-reader Reader in the USA to compete with Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and Apple’s iPad, does not sell this device at home. This is due to the fact that its attempts to create an e-reader market in the past were in vain and they had to pull the device off the shelves. But now, with many players ready to launch in the Japanese market, Sony doesn’t want to lose out at home.
Back home in India, infibeam.com has come out with an e-book reader called Pi that can read e-books in Indian languages like Sanskrit and Hindi among others. With a price tag of Rs. 10,000, Pi has no backlight display like the Kindle and uses an electronic ink screen that is easier to read than traditional backlit screens. Domestic digitization of content is not done in the country, so people have to rely on international e-books, which turn out to be a costly affair. Apart from supporting a music library, the Pi has a social edge to it. The technology aims to bring about a revolution in the Indian education
industry by doing away with textbooks. Already a few schools are testing it out to see whether it can replace traditional textbooks. Also, Infibeam is in talks with the National Council of Educational Research and Training to make textbooks available in digital format. Now, the market for e-books in India is still in a nascent stage and will take some time to kick off. But it seems a long way off for the Pi to replace the traditional textbooks.
Not to be left behind in the global race for e-book reader dominance, the pioneer of the e-book market, Amazon’s Kindle is all set to go on a diet. The device will be thinner and have a more responsive screen with a sharper picture, which will be introduced in August. Not to be bogged down by Apple’s iPad, Amazon said that it won’t include touch screen or color in the new version of the Kindle. This improvement seems to be aimed at Sony and Barnes & Noble rather than Apple. Worldwide, the Apple iPad is touted to be the next winner, with its color tablet allowing users to watch video and browse the net apart from providing a great reading experience with its 9.7 inch screen. Don’t be surprised to find improvements in other e-readers as well.
That said, what do you think of the potential of the e-book reader in the Indian market? Do you think it is too early? Also, will the iPad replace the Kindle and other e-book readers?
