Sony recently announced the launch of the Reader Pocket edition and the Reader Touch edition, which will go on sale at the end of the month for $199 and $299 respectively. Sony had also hinted that a wireless offering along the lines of the Kindle may be in the pipeline. Yesterday, Sony announced the release of a wireless device called Reader Daily Edition. The 7″ touch screen e-ink device is expected to go on sale in December. It features an AT&T 3G modem for free wireless access to Sony’s bookstore.  This means that if you are in the US, you can potentially use the Sony Reader on the go as well.

In a previous post, I had speculated as to how Amazon could use its Kindle technology to become the world’s biggest library. Turns out that the idea isn’t so far fetched and the concept has been used by a company called Overdrive for quite some time. Now imagine being able to access books from the collections of public libraries and millions of out of print books all on one device, along with titles from your regular bookstores!! The new Sony Reader promises just that. Sony has already partnered with Google to get out of print books on it’s devices. In addition to this it has partnered with the New York Public Library and Overdrive, to get content from libraries onto the device. You can now “borrow” a book from a supported Library, read it for the check out period and then “return” the book using the Reader. And here comes the kicker, the service is free. Yes, you heard me right, free !! Of course, you do need a valid library card to access the books, but the possibilities are amazing. Add a $399 price tag to all of this and I think we have a winner from Sony.

I think with this new addition, Sony will definitely be something to watch out for in the e-book reader market.

PS: I’m waiting for the reviews of the Sony Reader Touch Edition. Might just get one 🙂