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Lighter, brighter Sony e-book, with ePub

 Sony has now introduced the third e-book version in the States - the PRS 700 (having finally introduced its second-generation e-book reader in the UK) - and has widened its impact, by opening the device up to the EPUB book standard.

The PRS-700 won't go on sale until next month, but when it does it will sport a 6in E Ink display and enough memory for 350 e-books - up from the PRS-505's 160-book capacity.

The PRS-700's key new hardware feature is an integrated LED reading light - handy for all those folk who like to read in bed without disturbing their partner. But the key difference is probably the adoption of EPUB as a publishing standard, in additional to its proprietary book formats.

The reading light is probably not what makes the 700 heavier than its predecessor - 280g to 260g - that'll be the expanded battery, which offers a life of "7500 page turns", up from the 505's 6800.

The 700 can take MemoryStick Duo and SD memory cards, as before, and supports a range of e-book formats, including PDF, MS Word, BBeB, EPUB and text files. It's compatible with Adobe Digital Editions software, Sony said.

The new Reader will cost around $400 (£240/€290).

See Sony PRS-700 Photo Gallery

Story copyright RegHardware