No More Google Books on the Sony PRS-T1

sony prs-t1

When the Sony PRS-T1 was released last year, one of the big hyping factors was the ability to download millions of free books via Google Books. The Sony Wireless Reader or the Sony PRS-T1 had the ability to download books both in Canada and the USA. This is no longer the case and the button to download Google Books has been disabled.

Google recently changed Google Books and integrated them into the Google Play platform. This messed up the infrastructure on the Sony PRS-T1, and now the store points to invalid links and you no longer can download free books. The message users are receiving says: “Google Books are no longer available via Reader Store.” This problem is also affecting the iRiver Story HD, which relied on Google Books as the sole means to get new content.

So who is to blame for the inability to download free books from Google Books on the Sony PRS-T1? Basically, this is all on Sony to incorporate the changing landscape of technology with their e-readers. Although Google Books is known as Google Play Books, there are ways to get it working on the device, and Sony has not bothered to do it. Google Play Books is available on the iPad and Android, but not on the flagship Sony Reader Wireless.

Michael Kozlowski

Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.

Mike Cane

No, this isn’t Sony’s fault. It’s Google’s, period. They also screwed up Google Books for regular users too. Search results no longer have an indicator to show if you’ve previously placed a book in your library. This is disastrous for regular users who repeat searches to see if new books have been added. This is just more of Google’s ADHD in action. They are starting to make Microsoft look good.
Tom Semple

This happened back in February, a few weeks before Google Play launched. This seems to be part of Google’s overall initiative to start making money at everything it does. Sony and iRiver (and selling ebooks through independent booksellers) were not making money, so they had to go. It is odd that Sony doesn’t simply update the devices and remove the non-functioning link, except that that updates cost money too.
Popnfresh100

I second Mike!

On top of the fact that Google’s actions clearly caused the problem- Sony has their own ebookstore. Why is Sony under ANY obligation to make it easy for people to get books from a competitor?