We spoke via twitter earlier today with with Richard Palk from Sony. Richard is the General Manager, Content & Services, Digital Reading Business Europe and gave us some of his time to talk about Sony’s Reader products:

@SonyEurope Hi, thanks for your time. Can you describe the e-book and e-reader concept for people who aren’t familiar with it?

@GadgetsCoolest Reading digital books on devices with special screens- much more like reading on paper than a PC or smartphone offer

@SonyEurope  Your main competition seems to be Amazon - What are the main differences between the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader?

@GadgetsCoolest Reader lets you enjoy eBooks from multiple shops, libraries & other sites, unlike Amazon. Sony also has a touchscreen model

@SonyEurope This year has seen the launch of the Pocket and Touch editions. What can we expect next year?

@GadgetsCoolest Can’t reveal company secrets, sorry! But expect continuing innovations, and more access to content that people want to read

@SonyEurope Moving onto the devices, What makes using e-readers different to reading books on an iPhone or netbook?

@GadgetsCoolest 2 big differences are specialised non-backlit screens that don’t strain eyes & batteries that last for weeks between charges

@SonyEurope People may have heard about Amazon deleting purchased books from users’ Kindles. Is this possible with the Sony products?

@GadgetsCoolest Our US ebook stores policy is that after purchase you own the book & keep it! Our European partner stores have the same view

@SonyEurope Good to know! Are Sony’s Readers DLNA compatible, or are there any plans to make them compatible in future?

@GadgetsCoolest Until we have a clear user benefit in mind that DLNA would enable for Reader owners, we won’t be focusing our efforts there

@SonyEurope The US gets the Reader Daily Edition this year. Are there any plans to launch that in in Europe?

@GadgetsCoolest We’ll launch a wireless Reader in Europe when necessary elements are in place to offer users a great wireless experience!

@SonyEurope Has Sony got any plans to open up its API for third party developers?

@GadgetsCoolest This is definitely on our roadmap, although we can’t share specific timings or other details right now

@SonyEurope Will Readers be able to view RSS feeds and can users save feeds, or is it all overwritten automatically?

@GadgetsCoolest We’re currently looking at what our customers want from automated RSS updates. No news to share yet, but stay tuned…

@SonyEurope Last question - How do you anticipate the market for eBooks developing in 2010?

@GadgetsCoolest It’ll grow strongly overall - the rate will vary by country. Expect fast growth in available books and places to get them

@SonyEurope OK, I think that’s all the questions we had. Any final words?

@GadgetsCoolest That’s ok, many thanks for your questions. We hope it’s been useful.

@GadgetsCoolest Thanks again - ‘Reading is for life as well as for Christmas!’

@SonyEurope - Just one more ereader question: Do the devices work on Windows 7 / Snow leopard?

@GadgetsCoolest The devices already work on Win7 (you may need to update the PC software first) and they’ll work on SnowLeopard before Xmas