New Sony Reader: Will the New eBook Reader Launch eBooks Past Paper Books?   - 2,857 Views, 1 Comment

With 64mb of memory on board, and an expandable memory card slot, the Sony Reader is capable of carrying dozens of ebooks at once, and providing 7500 “page turns” on a single 4-hour battery charge.

The companion Connect service boasts more than 10,000 ebooks from publishers like Simon & Schuster, Random House, Penguin, HarperCollins and Harlequin.

In fact, the top 10 downloads at Connect this month include The Devil Wears Prada, the Da Vinci Code, and 1776.

Many may be surprised that so many ebooks are available, but according to Nick Bogaty, executive director of the International Digital Publishers Forum, “All major publishers have e-books, and that includes front catalogue as well as back catalog. Around 60 to 70 percent of the New York Times bestseller list is available in e-book form.”

Bogaty also points out that “I’ve always said that four factors need to be in place for the market to take off. You need a device that makes reading pleasurable, content at the right price, a great selection of content and e-books that are easy to use. We’re definitely getting closer to these goals.”

Of course, there are already places one can download ebooks which are not in any particular proprietary format, such as Project Gutenberg, whose ebooks can be readily read on a laptop or PDA, and also converted to iPod format using Phil Hord’s iPod Notes free service.