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The Japanese consumer electronics giant is planning to launch an upgraded Sony Reader, which will be priced at $180 to $300, "probably" in August, according to Bloomberg. The device, designed to compete with Amazon's Kindle, will hit the market before Sony's tablet PCs, which are scheduled to go on sale later this year. Sony plans to incorporate its ebook technology into the two Android-based tablets, code-named S1 and S2.
Update: A Sony rep says the Bloomberg story is inaccurate. "We have not released any pricing, timing or features of a new Sony Reader," the Sony rep says.
An upgraded Sony Reader would vie with the current category leader, Amazon's Kindle, but also with Barnes & Noble's Nook and the iriver Story HD, the first ereader to use Google's eBooks platform, which goes on sale at Target this week. All those devices retail for $139.
In addition, Barnes & Noble has two tiers of ereaders, including the Simple Touch and its Nook Color, which has the functionality of a tablet PC. Amazon is also reported to be working on a tablet PC, which should hit the market sometime before October.