Sharp have released a statement today, which says that they are planning to make a new tablet/E-Reader that can play video and listen to audio content.
This comes after Amazon said yesterday that the sales of hard-back books where surpassed by the sales of E-books – they said for every 100 hard-backs they are sell, they're selling a 180 E-Books.
Sharp are planning to offer a E-Book distribution service and will launch some compatible reader devices with the backing of various publishers in Japan and overseas.
The instant popularity of the iPad and Kindle distribution service have been runaway success’s and has since seen global competition heating up by the day with Amazon, Barnes & Noble Inc and Sony Corp slashing device prices in the past month in response to the threat from the iPad.
In Japan, Sony and mobile operator KDDI corp are teaming up to distribute e-books, looking to break down resistance from publishers to go digital.
Butt if Sharp are to make dent in Apple they need to make their E-Reader stand out as many see the position of a dedicated E-Reader’s as somewhat untenable at the moment. Much of the hardware, such as the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook still have a high price tag attached, but offer little of the advanced functionality that Apple’s tablet includes for just a little extra cash.
Sharp will have to do something quite special to stand out from the crowd. An e-reader with a web connection and a browser on a colour screen perhaps?