Sony unveils new e-reader in Kindle challenge

Sony said the "Reader Daily Edition," Sony's first e-reader featuring 3G wireless connectivity, would cost US$399 and be in stores in December in time for the Christmas shopping season.

Sony sells two other e-readers, the "Reader Pocket Edition," which costs $199, and the "Reader Touch Edition," which costs $299, but they do not offer wireless connectivity.

"We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital reading experience," said Steve Haber, president of Sony's Digital Reading Business Division.

The wireless access to Sony's e-book store via AT&T's 3G mobile broadband network "lets consumer purchase and download content on the go," Haber said.

Sony said that in addition to e-books, select newspapers and magazines would also be available for the Daily Edition.

The Daily Edition features a seven-inch (17.8-centimenter) wide touchscreen display and internal memory that allows it to hold over 1,000 standard e-books, Sony said.

Sony also unveiled an application on Tuesday which allows users to check out and download e-books from their local libraries.

"At the end of the library's lending period, e-books simply expire, so there are never any late fees," Sony said.

Sony announced earlier this month that it was doing away with the proprietary software on its e-reader and converting its e-book store to an industry standard format.

Sony said it would convert its e-book store to the open ePub format by the end of the year as part of "an effort to take the confusion out of digital book formats."

The move was seen as a direct challenge to Amazon, whose electronic books can only be read on the Kindle or on an Apple iPhone using Kindle software.

Amazon currently offers e-readers which cost $299 and $489.

They feature wireless connectivity but not a touchscreen as on the Sony device.

Source: AFP

Published courtesy of