Sony to adopt ePub for ebooks

Say what you want about Sony, but they just upped the ante for ebooks today by announcing that they will be getting rid of their own proprietary ebook format, and start using the open ePub format exclusively. This means that if you own a Sony Reader, you will be able to buy ebooks from other websites besides Sony’s own ebookstore.

I should point out, however, that Sony updated the firmware on their PRS-505 and PRS-700 models to be able to read ePub a while back. But the idea that Sony will be selling ebooks in ePub format is pretty thrilling. Here’s an excerpt from this New York Times article:

For Sony, which introduced its Reader devices more than a year before the Kindle arrived, the move to open formats is part of a strategy to make up lost ground. Sony recently introduced two new, less expensive devices and announced it was dropping its price for new releases and best sellers to $9.99. Later in the year, the company will begin selling a third Reader that will, like the Kindle, allow users to buy e-books wirelessly.

Going with an open-source format will definitely lift Sony a few notches above the Amazon Kindle – which is locked into Amazon’s own proprietary format. Will this force Amazon to change? It’s too early to tell, but I hope so.

It is also worth mentioning that Sony’s use of ePub doesn’t mean there won’t be any DRM. Sony will be using Adobe-DRMed ePub, which will restrict things like sharing and copying of ebooks. David Rotham, over at the Teleread blog, points out that the NYT article glosses over this fact in their covering of the story.

Regardless, I think it’s a large step in the right direction. I own the PRS-500 (yeah, I’m an ‘early adopter’) so I’m not sure how this will affect my reader, as the firmware update to include ePub did not include the PRS-500. While I love my Sony Reader, I might be forced to upgrade a lot sooner than I had planned.

Do you think Sony will eventually trump Amazon by going with ePub as their ebook format? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

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