It’s been a long time coming – and strictly speaking it’s not quite here yet – but it looks as if the Amazon Kindle reader is about to get some serious competition. Sony has just announced the launch the "Daily Edition" - its latest e-book reader – and it appears as if it will offer the Kindle some stern competition.

Sony say it will be on sale before the end of the year – which probably means it will be out in time for the Christmas gift giving season. The price has been set at $399. That’s $100 above the Kindle 2 and $90 less than the DX.

The price isn’t the only thing that’s pitched between the Kindle 2 and the DX. The screen is 7” wide and will display a similar number of lines to a paperback book. The reader trounces both Kindles with touch screen technology.

The reader will have wireless connectivity to the Sony bookstore. This will be provided by AT&T which may make it easier for Sony to launch the reader in Europe (no date for this has been announced as yet). Up to now, Amazon has struggled to create similar European connectivity to their 3G “Whispernet” system provided by Sprint in the US.

It really looks as if Sony has a very strong offering here. At first glance, the Daily Edition looks to be technically superior to the Kindle in a number of areas. Of course, the technical aspects of the readers are not the only consideration. The vast collection of titles available from Amazon is a big point in their favor. However, Sony have a tie-up with Google which lets their users access Google’s public domain library and the Daily Edition reader will also allow users to access their local library’s collection of e-books.

In the near future there are plenty of other competitors who are planning to launch new readers – Apple for example. Competition in the developing e-book reader market is growing rapidly. Increased competition is good news for consumers as prices of both the readers and the e-books for them will be driven down.