Sony unveils new e-reader in Kindle challenge

Japan's Sony Corp unveiled an electronic reader featuring a touchscreen and wireless connectivity in a bid to challenge Amazon's popular Kindle.

Sony yesterday said the "Reader Daily Edition," Sony's first e-reader featuring 3G wireless connectivity, would cost $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 17.8-centimetre wide touchscreen display and internal memory that allows it to hold over 1,000 standard e-books, Sony said.

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