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Kindle-like feature added to Sony devices

By Peter Svensson Associated Press

NEW YORK — Sony Corp. plans to offer an e-book reader with the ability to wirelessly download books, injecting more competition in a small but fast-growing market by adopting a key feature of the rival Kindle from Amazon.com.

Sony's $399 Reader Daily Edition will go on sale by December, Sony executives said Tuesday at an event at the New York Public Library. The device has a 7-inch touch screen and will be able to get books, daily newspapers and other reading material over AT&T Inc.'s cellular network.

Sony has sold e-book reading devices with "electronic ink" displays in the United States since 2006 but has seen most of the attention stolen by Amazon, which launched the Kindle with similar e-ink technology a year later. The latest version of the Kindle — which is not controlled by touching the screen — costs $299 and uses Sprint Nextel Corp.'s wireless network for downloads.

On Tuesday, Sony also began selling a "Pocket Edition" e-book reader with a 5-inch screen for $199, and a larger $299 touch-screen model. Neither has wireless capability, so both have to be connected to a computer to acquire books.

Though Sony is following Amazon by adding wireless capability, its e-book strategy differs in crucial respects.

The only copy-protected books the Kindle can display are from Amazon's store, and the only devices the store supports are the Kindle, the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

Sony, on the other hand, has committed to an open e-book standard, meaning its Readers can show copy- protected books from a variety of stores, and the books can be moved to and read on a variety of devices, including cell phones.

Sony also announced Tuesday that the Readers will be able to load e-books "loaned" from local libraries. A library card will provide access to free books that expire after 21 days.

The library connection "would seem to be something Amazon would never embrace, so that could be a key differentiator," said Richard Doherty, director of research firm The Envisioneering Group.

Reader owners won't be charged for wireless access, said Steve Haber, head of Sony's U.S. reading division.

Instead, the bookseller probably will have to pay AT&T for the access, out of money it charges for the books, similar to the way Amazon pays Sprint. Sony's multistore strategy makes that challenging. The Daily Edition will initially have wireless access only to Sony's e-book store, Haber said.

Sony said the names of the newspapers that will be available on the device will be announced later. The Kindle offers 46 newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.