Waterstones will sell an e-reader

UK HIGH STREET BOOKSELLER Waterstones will sell its own tablet style e-reader device to compete with Amazon's Kindle.

The firm's managing director announced its plans to sell a competing device quite some time after the main players, including Amazon in the US and UK, showed their weapons.

"We in Waterstone's need to offer you a digital reader which is at least as good, and preferably substantially better, than that of our internet rival, and you will have a much better buying experience purchasing your books through us," said Waterstones' managing director James Daunt in an interview with BBC Radio 4.

Daunt added that the firm's plans are well advanced. The digital reader market did not really have much of a hold until Amazon released its Kindle devices, and now Amazon says that it sells more digital books than it does physical paperback titles.

Waterstones expects that combining the digital book with its physical stores could work to its benefit, and Daunt seems to want to mirror the success of Barnes & Noble in the US. According to the BBC report, Barnes & Noble's Nook owners are allowed to "read for free in Barnes and Noble stores for up to one hour each day". µ