ePub capabilities for tens of millions of Sony PSPs? Great idea if possible! Coming?
A digital reader is on the way to read comics on Sony PSPs, and now the epubBooks blog is asking the natural question.
Will new readerware for the PSP support ePub?
If not, let’s hope that future software will. Sony has moved more than 50 million PSPs, with the PSP Go model expected to give the line a boost.
Excerpt from a CNET article: “The PSP will also be getting a Digital Reader in December with various comic book publishers onboard to offer content. Marvel will be providing Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four comics to start, with Wolverine, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Hulk all to follow. Compatibility with other Sony readers and more digital comics publishers will be announced soon.”
“Other Sony readers”? Hmm. Existing E Ink machines and the new wireless model that perhaps will debut later this year? Let’s hope. Amazon was clueful enough to get Kindle software working on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and the same idea applies here.
Detail: I wonder if there could technical issues, in terms of the PSPs running an ePub app, especially older models. Could Adobe gracefully port over a version of Digital Editions? I’m skeptical. But who knows. Adobe software in the past has had some rendering problems on the usual readers. Alas, Sony’s use of Adobe DRM doesn’t simplify things. Regardless, I hope Sony will plan ahead for the time when PSPs will gain new muscle and the addition of ePub is no big deal. Your thoughts on the technical details. I am not a PSP maven.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:43 am
I’m a game dev who has worked on the PSP. It’s far more powerful than a lot of existing platforms which have ePub support, and I really can’t see any issues with getting it running.