Waterstone's seeks e-book equality
27.08.09 Graeme Neill in The Bookseller

Waterstone's has called for simultaneous publication of e-book and physical books. The call came after it revealed earlier in the week that it would include Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol free with pre-orders of the new Sony devices.
Waterstone's commercial director Neil Jewsbury was speaking after Sony's launch on Tuesday (25th August) of two new e-book reading devices—a touch screen Reader and a pocket Reader. Both will be available from 10th September.

While publishers such as Hachette and Random House try to publish e-books simultaneously with the physical copy, titles from bestselling authors such as Stephen King and James Patterson are not usually available as e-books. Jewsbury said: "We speak for our customers when we say that people want to be able to buy the e-book version of a new title at the same time as it is released in its printed form." He predicted that Waterstone's would sell its millionth e-book during the next 12 months.
The Reader Pocket Edition costs £179, has a five-inch screen, can hold around 350 e-books and has a battery life of around two weeks of reading time.
The Reader Touch Edition costs £249. Its six-inch screen is a touch-screen panel that allows navigation, page turning and note taking using a finger or stylus. Users can type on a virtual keyboard and make handwritten notes, which can be exported and printed out. It also features a built-in Oxford English Dictionary.
Waterstone's will phase out the sale of its PRS-505 model, which went on sale in September 2008, although the device will continue to be supported by software updates from Sony.