The new Sony Reader (model PRS-505) features a svelte body design and is available in silver and dark blue. Sony says a re-styled controls more closely mimic paper page turns and allow for quick, intuitive navigation.

A next-generation electronic paper display delivers faster response and a higher contrast ratio for easy reading even in bright sunshine. Eight levels of gray scale provide for crisp and clear text, images, and graphics.

With the capacity to store up to 160 typical eBooks, the Reader can act as a mobile library. Expansion slots for Memory Stick Duo media or SD memory cards alows for a practically limitless library.

The company expects more advanced users to appreciate the new USB-based mass storage capability that allows them to use the device as a portable drive for the direct transfer of documents, images and other files to the Reader. A new auto sync feature also lets users set up folders with books and documents that can be automatically synchronized when the device is connected to a PC.

The Reader’s high-resolution electronic paper display delivers a realistic print look that rivals traditional paper and uses minimal power. A single battery charge provides up to 7,500 pages of continuous reading. The option to magnify the text in three sizes offers a distinct advantage for sight-impaired readers. Switching the Reader to landscape mode offers yet another level of magnification as well as a wider page view.

In addition to electronic books, the Reader can also store and display personal and business documents in Adobe PDF format (best when formatted for the Reader’s display), RTF, text and JPEG images.

Since Sony’s launch of the CONNECT eBooks Store last year, the number of downloadable eBooks offered has expanded to more than 20,000 titles with new ones added weekly.

Grove/Atlantic, Harcourt Trade, Kensington, Pearson Education, The Perseus Books Group, Regnery Publishing, Taylor & Francis and W.W. Norton have joined the ranks of publishers such as Hachette Book Group USA, Harlequin, HarperCollins Publishers, Holtzbrinck Publishers, Hyperion, McGraw Hill, Penguin Group, Random House and Simon & Schuster in their commitment to electronic publishing.

Recent newcomers to the store include Reader’s Digest, the first magazine to produce content for the Reader and Dorling Kindersley with titles coming soon. The site also boasts a number of Rough Guide travel titles.

For a limited time, when a Reader is registered on Sony’s CONNECT eBooks Store, customers will receive a credit good for the purchase of 100 available CONNECT Classics titles, including the works of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, H.G. Wells and more.

The new Reader will retail for about US$300 and come complete with a USB cable; eBook Library PC companion software; and a color-coordinated, protective soft cover.