AT&T will provide wireless service for Sony's new Reader Daily Edition, announced by the two companies.

Sony on Tuesday launched a wireless edition of its electronic-book reader, which closes a key feature gap with Amazon's market-leading Kindle.

The Reader Daily Edition, with a price of 399 U.S. dollars, will be 17.78-cm wide with an aluminum body and standard E Ink electronic touchscreen display. Sony said about 30 to 35 lines of text will be visible when the device is in portrait mode. It'll boast enough built-in memory to store around 1,000 standard e-books, with integrated slots for optional memory expansion.

The wireless connection in the Reader Daily Edition is provided through AT&T's 3G mobile broadband network.

The deal is AT&T's second step into the electronic reader market this summer. Just last month, the company announced it would provide 3G access for an upcoming Plastic Logic e-reader set to debut in 2010.

At that time, an AT&T exec discussed the "tremendous market potential" the company saw with electronic reading devices.

Apart from exposure, what AT&T gains from the deals has not been disclosed. However, The Wall Street Journal suggests the communications giant will likely receive a portion of the profits from all wireless purchases made through the e-reader devices.

"The deal with Sony reflects a concerted effort on AT&T's part to maximize use of its wireless network and develop new revenue streams," the Journal suggests.

(Xinhua/Agencies)