This is some great news from Geekzone :
This is soooo great for us eBook fans. Look at the features:

• reflective display (can be easily read in bright sunlight or dimly lit environments)
• black and white ink-on-paper look
• a resolution of approximately 170 pixels per inch (PPI) - more than any other portable device has!
• read more than 10,000 pages (imagine a standard book with 250 pages - this equals to 40 books!) before replacing the four AAA Alkaline batteries
• compact and lightweight form factor
• allows users to download published content, such as books or comic strips from the Internet
• can store up to 500 downloaded books

I promise, once this thing is out and available in my country, I will buy it!
SonyStyle Japan has some more info on the Sony Librie EBR-1000EP available (link)

Some more interesting facts:

- retail price in Japan: 41,790 JPY ~ 390 USD
- uses Sony eBook format called Broad Band eBook (BBeB)
- Sony's eBook distributor is Timebook Town (http://www.publishinglink.jp)
- protected Sony eBooks will stop working after 60 days of use

- display panel: E INK system electronic paper
- resolution: SVGA (800×600), approximately 170ppi (Pixel Per Inch)
- screen size: 6 inches
- display color: 4 grey scales, black and white (but hey, it is just a book reader!)
- battery life time: approximately 10,000 book pages
- interfaces: Memorystick (+Pro), USB, headphone
- other features: dictionary search, audio correspondence (speaker, headphone jack)
- power source: 4 AAA alkaline batteries, AC adapter
- built-in memory: approximately 10MB
- size: 126mm×190mm×13mm
- weight: approximately 190g (without batteries)

The question is, would YOU buy it? I probably would (and stick to my old PDA).
Depending on the price....I don't think so. I like reading on my current devices, and the dedicated ebook reader would have to seriously compete price-wise for me to lash out and buy it. I will also flat out refuse to buy any book that expires in 60 days!

Having said that, if you can buy and use other book formats, and the price becomes reasonable (for a dedicated reader you can't do anything else with).... Who knows??

Craig.

At the moment I think you are better off with a "normal" PDA. This thing is only for reading and although the resolution is big step forward, I would miss the interactive features of a real os. In my opinion it is a nice to have, like all the other ebooks-read-only solutions, but not really necesarry. I wonder what the first PDA with ePaper-Display (ePD will look alike and how long its battery will last.
Chad Sichello of Second Chance Publishers on his first experience with the Librie:
Thats all great news. I only hope it is not true that the official Sony software does not include tools to convert ebooks outside the officially approved format (BBeB)

Otherwise we'd have to wait until someone cracks the DRM...
Btw, just look at the quality of the screen even when viewed from a weird angle...amazing!
Which probably wouldn't be too long. Slashdot links today to the Linux for iPod project, which has developed an operable Linux kernal for the extremely closed-source iPod through some reverse engineering and trial and error. And once the epaper technology is established, it surely won't be long before it is used for other readers. This reader is beautiful, but it's a bit big for me. I like my Palm because it's pocket-sized and I can read it anywhere...
But think about the future health of your eyes...
It's true. I already can't read the "smallest" size in iSilo. (Can anyone?!)
Smallest was my standard viewing size when I read on my Clie. Smallest size on the ipaq (even with cleartype enabled) is not so great, but "small" is absolutely perfect!

Craig.