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Sony eBookstore Opens To More e-Readers

San Diego – Sony said it will open up its e-book store to
electronic book-readers other than its own, in contrast to Amazon.com, whose
e-books work only with its Amazon Kindle e-reader and the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Sony said it will convert its e-book store to the industry
standard ePub format, without propriety anti-copying software by the end of the
year.  Sony’s e-reader devices will also
become compatible with e-book stores other than its own e-bookstore, it said.

Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading business
division, said that a market filled with proprietary formats and proprietary
digital rights management software is limiting the growth of the e-book market.
“Consumers should not have to worry about which device works with which
store. With a common format and common content protection solution (DRM), they
will be able to shop around for the content they want regardless of where they
get it or what device they use.”

He added, “Our readers have long supported industry-standard
formats such as ePub and PDF. Now, what is quickly becoming the de facto
standard for eBooks will be available in our store.”

Sony will convert its books offered in the Broad Band eBook
format (BBeB) to ePub.  Sony is also
adopting a universal DRM solution from Adobe.

When the store converts, Sony e-reader customers will be able to
re-download their previously purchased in BBeB to convert them to ePub and the
BBeB books will continue to work on the older devices.

Sony recently introduced new lower cost e-readers â€” the
Reader Pocket Edition (priced at about $199), and the Reader Touch Edition
(about $299
) â€” that will support the ePub and PDF formats out of the box
when they go on sale later this month.

The Sony PRS-505 and PRS-700 e-readers will also work with the revised site, and
the original PRS-500 will require a downloadable upgrade to be provided by
Sony.”

Bob Nell,
director of business
development for Sony’s digital reading division, said any e-book reader that supports the ePub
format and Adobe Content Server 4 (ACS4) will be able to use Sony’s eBook Store
by the end of the year.  Amazon’s Kindle
does not presently support these formats.

 Astak, Cool-er and the upcoming iRex e-readers support Adobe
software, and the two former devices also support ePub. 

Nell affirmed that Sony is
planning to introduce a wireless e-reader but would not give a time frame. “We
are absolutely developing a wireless device. We understand the value and benefit
of it. Amazon’s Kindle offers wireless
over-the-air downloads of e-books with no service fees for wireless service. 
Upcoming competitors Plastic Logic and iRex also plan to offer 3G wireless
capability.

As to a possible Sony e-readers iPhone
application, Nell said, “We’re considering other platforms.  We have no definitive plans now.”

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