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Sony Bows E-Reader Designed For Long-Term Reading

San Diego — Sony introduced today a new Reader (model PRS-T2), a 6-inch e-reader with a touchscreen optimized for long-term reading.

The unit is available in three colors — white, red or matte black — and “offers new social features and a simplified and intuitively designed home screen,” Sony said.

The glare-free, E Ink Pearl V220 touchscreen has been enhanced for optimal long-term reading. It now features intuitive touch, more paper-like page turns, improved continuous page turns, and a smoother zoom in and out. The new device has an improved default book layout and makes it easier to organize and find books, Sony said.

The device has two English language and four translation dictionaries built in and provides up to two months of battery life (with wireless off) and 2GB of storage. Readers can swipe a finger to turn a page, zoom in and out by pinching fingers together or apart, or write notes on the page or highlight text with a finger or the supplied stylus. Users can also choose from eight font sizes and seven font styles, the company said.

The device includes new Facebook and Evernote features. Consumers now have the ability to post a short passage from books purchased from the Reader Store to Facebook directly from the device, along with the book cover, author and title.

For the first time, Sony’s Reader is combining features from Evernote to allow users to save their favorite web content to enjoy any time. Evernote’s Web Clipper allows saving content with a click, and pages saved with Evernote Clearly are optimized for Reader’s E Ink display. Favorite passages can also be annotated on Reader and saved back to Evernote for viewing later on any smartphone, tablet or PC, Sony said.

With built-in Wi-Fi, the Reader PRS-T2 offers its public library lending feature by offering patrons with a valid library card the ability to borrow free e-books wirelessly from more than 15,000 public libraries in the U.S. via a dedicated icon on the device.

Users can also continue to access and download thousands of e-books, newspapers and magazines from the Reader Store directly to the device using a Wi-Fi connection. The Reader Store now offers a web-based Store. Reader Store accounts are now accessible from most web browsers, and sign-in and purchase can be done without having to install any software to a computer, Sony said.

As part of Sony’s collaboration with Pottermore and the Pottermore Shop (the exclusive home of the Harry Potter eBooks), Sony will offer a voucher to redeem against the first e-book in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” for free. The voucher can be redeemed at the Pottermore Shop following purchase of the matte-black Reader PRS-T2.

The Reader PRS-T2 is available for order now for about $129 at Sony Stores and online at http://store.sony.com and other retailers. Accessories for the Reader include a cover and a cover with a light, for about $35 and $50 respectively.

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