Daily Edition Online Store &
Newspaper Review
Sony's online ebook store is called the "Reader Store", and the free 3G wireless service provided by AT&T allows you to browse, purchase, and download ebooks and periodicals directly to the Daily Edition anywhere within AT&T's US coverage area.
It takes a little while to load the homepage of the Reader Store, but once it's up a going the pages load fairly quickly. The are a number of search options and filters for finding ebooks, along with several different categories and quick check links.
One thing I noticed about browsing through the store, sometimes if you tap on a selection it darkens but doesn't react; you have to tap on it again to get it to work. I haven't encountered this problem using the Daily Edition in any other instance, just in the store.
Considering the store has only been up since Christmas, I guess there are still a few bugs to work out. Other than that, the browsing through the store goes pretty smoothly, and the ebook download times for me have been under ten seconds; the newspaper takes about 20 seconds. That's with 2 bars and 3G coverage.
Daily Edition Video Review - Part 2 - Online Store
Wireless Details
The downside about the free wireless is that it is only to Sony's Reader Store. You cannot browse the internet or download ebooks from other websites like with the Amazon Kindle. And there currently isn't any way to download free public domain ebooks from Google or library ebooks through OverDrive; you have to use your computer to download these and then transfer them over with the USB cable.
But by reading some of the technical information on the Daily Edition's information page, they leave the possibility open saying,
"You may be charged a fee for wireless connectivity for your use of other wireless services on your product, such as web browsing, should those services be available."
At least they've left the door open to the possibility of greater internet access down the road, but for now Sony's ebook store is the only connection available through the wireless.
In Store
All Things Digital
Chicago Tribune
Financial Times
Foreign Affairs
International Herald Tribune
Los Angeles Times
MarketWatch Today
New York Post
National Review
PC Magazine
Reason
San Jose Mercury News
The Baltimore Sun
The Boston Globe
The Columbus Dispatch
The Dallas Morning News
The Denver Post
The Nation
The New York Observer
The New York Times
The Salt Lake Tribune
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Times
Periodical Subscriptions
Each newspaper subscription comes with a 14-day free trial and is automatically delivered to the Daily Edition each morning via wireless, provided you have the wireless turned on. If you have it turned off you can download the paper with the Daily Edition anytime by going to "My Account" in the Reader Store.
Sony announced in a recent press release a new partnership with Dow Jones & Company for exclusive content from The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch. In addition, the company has reached an agreement with the New York Post to offer an exclusive version of the New York Post for digital reading devices.
Sony has agreements in place with several more magazine and newspaper publishers that will be available soon.
To see the current list of periodical subscriptions, click here to visit the newspaper section of the Sony Reader Store.
Newspaper Review - How They Work
When you open a newspaper, the newspaper viewer appears at the bottom of the page. This allows you to quickly navigate between the different article sections, the front page, and the Table of Contents.
As you would expect, all the articles are sorted into different sections, and each section is listed in the Table of Contents. Each section appears with a list of articles and pictures with the headings highlighted. Tap the heading with your finger or stylus to read the article.
You can highlight and write notes directly in the articles the same way as with ebooks. You can change the orientation and font sizes too. About the only difference with reading the newspaper is that you cannot view it in a 2-column layout.
If the article has an image, it shows at the top of the page with the writing below it. At the end of the article, you can choose to go directly to the next or previous article, or to the section's home page.
