Sony announces Reader Daily Edition: Touchscreen, free library ebook checkouts

Earlier this morning, Sony announced their Reader Daily Edition, which sits at the top of the line of the Sony Reader ebook reader family. The Sony Reader Daily Edition boasts a seven-inch touchscreen with 16 shades of gray, and like the Amazon Kindle, it has 3G access built-in for purchasing books from the Sony eBook Store. The 3G connection is provided by AT&T.

You’ll be able to get your hands on the Sony Reader Daily Edition this December for $400, and it’ll be compatible with the new eBook Library 3.0 software, which now supports Macs. Even better though, and what sets this apart, is that there is a built in library finder services, and it lets you check out ebooks from local public libraries, at no cost. You just need a library card, find the books you want, and go to the library to get them loaded onto the Reader Daily Edition. The New York Public Library is one of the big launch partners, but “thousands more” will be available as well. When you check out a book, you get between 2-4 weeks to read it before it expires on the device. A huge advantage over what the Kindle offers, which is 100% paid content.

I don’t know about you, but we are fairly excited about this one.

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