Sony Reader store finally opens in Australia

Sony has finally opened its Reader ebook store in Australia, available from the web and Sony e-readers.

It's only taken six or seven years, but the Sony Reader Store, through which Sony sells ebooks in a number of locations around the globe, has finally opened in Australia.

The first Reader Store opened in 2006, with the arrival of the PRS-500 in the US, but it took until last year for it to hit the UK, Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Spain. Now, Australian owners of Sony's e-readers can access the store from their devices to purchase books when connected to a Wi-Fi network, and anyone with an ePub-compatible reader can purchase from the web store, using Adobe Digital Editions to unlock content.

Tad Kitsukawa, managing director Sony Digital Reading Services, said, "We are proud to bring our Reader Store eBook offering to customers in Australia. With the widely accepted, open ePub format and our focus on local Australian ebook selections, we believe Australians will be excited to choose Reader Store for any book they want to read."

To promote the store, Sony is offering for a limited time a free ebook when you sign up. Alas, you can't just pick one: the book will be chosen by the Reader Store's editorial team, and added to your Reader Store library.

You can sign up at the Reader Store Australia.