Sony has unveiled its bid to reclaim ground lost to Amazon.com in the battle for control of the emerging electronic book market with a wireless, touch-screen reader priced at $399.
The Japanese electronics group's new Reader Daily Edition, which will hit the US market in December, costs $100 more than Amazon's basic wireless Kindle device, but offers a seven-inch touch screen, larger than the Kindle's six inches.
Sony also hopes that its pricing, deals with Google and US libraries, and its support for the Epub electronic book standard, will allow it to regain the initiative by emphasising affordability, a choice of 1m titles and an open access model rather than the Kindle's proprietary system.