Sony Reader Makes Friends With Jane Austin

Oprah kicked off the Kindle. Everyone knows that the device’s popularity is thanks in large part to the chatshow queen, but the Kindle is not the only eBook reader out there and it looks like Sony is eager to make itself heard among the Kindle-mania.

While it all comes down to personal opinion, I’m a big fan of Sony’s Reader, more so than I am of the Kindle. No real logic behind it, I just think it looks nicer and if I’m going to read electronic books anytime soon (and I really don’t plan to), it’ll be on a Sony device. The company last night announced the arrival of a whole bunch of classic titles, courtesy of Google Books.

Google’s Book Search hasn’t quite had the recognition it deserves. It's a great idea, but no one really uses it on a regular basis. A lot of great books are under expired copyrights and it seems not many people really realize what they can get for free these days. That said, the deal with Sony should shed a little light on the issue. Google and Sony yesterday announced that the search giant would be providing titles whose copyrights have expired.

The deal will bring the Reader library to 600,000, over double that of the Kindle (250,000 according to CNet). All we need now is some fancy celebrity endorsement and the Sony Reader will be well on its way.

Do any of you guys have an eBook reader, Kindle or otherwise? What do you think? Let us know in the comments!