Sony quietly revealed an updated Reader today, called the not-so memorable PRS-T3 , with a colorful protective snap cover and built-in Wi-Fi, and a three-minute ‘Quick Charge’ mode.
The Kindle rival boasts a 6-inch e-ink anti-glare display set at a resolution of 758 x 1024 pixels. Battery life is reportedly up to two months with Wi-Fi switched off, provided the user reads for about 30 minutes each day. Real-life use will no doubt vary.
2GB of onboard storage supports roughly 1,200 e-books, although a micro SD card slot gives readers an extra 32GB if they need it. The device also supports EPUB , an open e-book standard that lets owners purchase titles from various online stores.
Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but it’ll launch in Europe later this month. With Amazon’s all-new Kindle Paperwhite announced only yesterday, Sony will need to price this competitively to stand a chance of winning over new bookworms.
➤ Sony (press release)
Context-focused Wi-Fi Alliance competitor to iBeacons due to arrive in devices this year
The Wi-Fi alliance used CES 2015 to show off the latest developments in beacon-like technology certification called Wi-Fi Aware, which promises to add more context to interactions with users.
Announced today, the Wi-Fi Aware certification will allow compatible devices to do things like inform you if a colleague is in the same airport terminal, or perhaps a music player at a party will automatically arrange a track list according to the preferences of the people in the room. Or maybe it’ll just let you find someone close-by to challenge to some gaming fun. In fact, the organization said that the technology has been specifically developed to work well in crowded indoor environments, which is where it will see most use.
“We’ve only begun to imagine the uses for Wi-Fi Aware,” Edgar Figueroa said. “Of course, people will use the technology to find video game opponents, photo sharing opportunities, and sources for location-specific information. We are also excited about Wi-Fi Aware’s potential in a range of services yet-to-be conceived.”
The group added that users will still have control over whether they “opt-in” to discovery and connections with other devices. It added that in many situations, the connections will be made without the need for an active internet connection.
While it’s similar to the Bluetooth-based iBeacon technology in some respects, Wi-Fi Aware certification for devices has the benefit of being device agnostic, allowing it to work with any operating system.
If this sounds exciting to you, then you’ll be pleased to hear that the first devices to ship with Wi-Fi Aware certification are due to arrive this year.
➤ Wi-Fi Aware™ to bring proximity-based service discovery to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ devices later this year [Wi-Fi Alliance via FierceWireless ]
LG announces the G Pad, an 8.3-inch, Android Jelly Bean-powered iPad rival; going worldwide Q4 2013
LG Electronics announced today the impending arrival of its G Pad 8.3 tablet, which will officially launch at IFA 2013 next week. The company revealed that the tablet will have an 8.3-inch display screen and run Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2. Unfortunately, while full specs for the device have been provided, we still do not know the price yet — that will be provided when it launches. However, we do know that it will be available worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2013.
LG’s G Pad will come with a 1.7GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 Processor, 16GB worth of memory, 2GB of RAM, dual camera (5MP rear/ 1.3MP front), weigh 338 grams, and come in black or white.
The official announcement of the G Pad had been expected following the discovery of a YouTube ad on the company’s channel . It featured people talking about their experience with current tablet devices offering feedback like they want full HD picture quality, being able to connect to other devices, and that it not be a think device.
The electronic giant’s tablet is its latest G Series device that it hopes will successfully build on the launch of its G2 “superphone”. It touts four key items that it believes will entice consumers to try it out and buy one:
Smaller, thinner, better? The G Pad has a 4600mAh battery and weighs just 338 grams. When you stack it against the iPad Mini, which boasts a somewhat comparable 7.9-inch display, the G Pad is actually heavier by 38 grams.
Full HD Display Tablet Featuring a 1900 x 1200 display at 273 pixels per inch, consumers should find watching movies, playing games, and whatever else they do on the tablet to appear sharp and clear. LG has copied the same attribute that it included with its G Series devices. Compared to the iPad Mini, which has a 1024×768 resolution at 163 pixels per inch, LG seems to have the win in this category. But then again, this comes just days before Apple holds an event in San Francisco where some say that a new iPad is being announced (or maybe not ).
Integration with QPair LG has implemented a better integration with its QPair app. Through this unique piece of software, the company says that you can see incoming calls and messages. This is interesting in that, while you can’t actually take voice calls on the device, you could respond to them in texts:
However, one must wonder whether this is something that has already been done with services like Google Voice or even apps like TextPlus.
Better user experience for tablets LG touts that the G Pad includes “real-life benefits” include multitasking with its “slide aside” feature (three-finger swipe), QSlide, which allows you to control up to three different apps without any interruption, and KnockOn, a feature that lets you turn the device on and off just by tapping on it twice.
Okay, so here’s the important part: the tablet is not available yet — it will be sold worldwide starting in the fourth quarter in North America, Europe, and Asia, along with some other regions. It’s also still unclear whether this will be a WiFi only device or available on mobile carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, or Sprint.
Based on the specs and the information LG has provided us, does the G Pad appear to be interesting enough for people to buy? At this point, probably not — I’d rather use a Nexus 7 or a iPad Mini. But if the company demonstrates how the G Pad works with its other hardware devices to help create a connected home, then that might be worth checking out.
Photo credit: David Becker/Getty Images