Sony has created a new gadget that it claims “will allow active readers to carry as much as they want to read whether they are traveling on the road or just around the corner”.

The Sony Reader is around the size of a novel and about 0.5 inches thick, and has the ability to store hundreds of books if one added an option Secure Digital flash memory card. The Reader is able to store and display Adobe PDF files, web content (blogs, news feeds), and JPEG photos.

The Reader has a battery life pegged at around 7500 page turns, so you don’t need to recharge when the action just starts to get going.

The reason this device was created was because there simply wasn’t a device that would allow immersive reading of material, such as e-books or other digital media, other than the computer.

The Sony Reader also mimics the real printed page by using high-resolution electronic technology to display a text on a realistic “page”. The Reader doesn’t use any backlight, and users don’t see any refresh or flickering of the image, which would be tiring after hours of reading. The gadget also changes font size for those who have trouble seeing.

Sony will also launch Sony Connect, which will allow readers to seamlessly connect to the online bookstore from their computer, buy and download books, and place them on the device. The Connect Store will carry books from a variety of genres.

The Sony Reader will be available in Spring of 2006. For more information visit the Sony Reader website.

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