Yes, the rumors are true: Sony is making available its Sony® Reader Portable Reader System as of next month at area Borders bookstores and SonyStyle stores in high-end malls (or right now at sonystyle.com, for those who just can't wait.) It will retail for $350, according to a press release issued this morning, and through its CONNECT ebook store, agreements with a number of major publishing companies have made more than 10,000 eBook titles available to download to the Reader via the companion PC software.

"Today, we're writing a new chapter in digital technology for reading," said Ron Hawkins, Sony Electronics' vice president of Portable Reader Systems marketing. "Easy and enjoyable to use, the Reader fulfills the promise of electronic reading in a way that no other device has been able to do. Not intended to replace traditional books, but to supplement them, the Sony Reader allows people to take a library of books and other reading material with them wherever they go."

So what's the big deal about the Reader? It's that the screen of the
Sony Reader is not backlit, allowing the company to make the ironic
pitch that its e-book reader closely resembles paper. Yeah, that's definitely irony....