Barnes & Noble is planning to announce its own brand of e-book reader and could begin selling the device as soon as next month, according to reports.
The move comes just days after two years after it went on sale in the US.
The Barnes & Noble device is expected to also use a wireless connection to download books from the online e-book store that the retailer launched in July.
It is expected to include a six-inch screen from digital-paper maker E-Ink Corp. featuring touch input and a virtual keyboard, similar to the one built into Apple iPhone.
One of the big unanswered questions is the price tag, which has not yet surfaced in early reports.
Although companies such as Sony market e-book readers, the Kindle dominates the market. Earlier this week, Amazon dropped the price of its entry level Kindle to $259 from $299.
Barnes & Noble already sells e-books that can be read on apps on the iPhone and Research In Motion's Blackberry handsets.
.jpg)
.jpg)