Sony's Reader gets a touch screen

Still debating the whole eBook thing? Perhaps the new Sony Reader will change your mind. Sony has announced that a new model, called the PRS-700, will have an interactive touch screen display that allows you to flip through pages by sliding your finger across the screen, and a virtual keyboard to create notes with. In addition, the book will come with an LED reading light (not to be confused with a backlight) that allows you read books in the dark or in areas with very poor lighting.

Not bad for a reader Sony hopes will appeal to college students. There's been a lot of talk lately about Amazon working on a Kindle for college students, but nothing that would be materialized before the end of this year, which would give Sony a clear advantage if it lowered its prices.

Wired says Sony does indeed have its eye on education institutions, which is why the company has announced that the first 100 schools to register their e-book libraries with Sony will get 5 new readers.

The new reader is modeled after the PRS-505, and sports all the same features including a high-resolution six-inch electronic display, pre-set text sizes, internal memory that can hold 350 digital books, multiple file format support, and a an expansion slot to increase storage. Sony’s new Reader Digital Book doesn't have wireless capabilities like the Kindle does, but that's a capability the company plans to add in upcoming versions. The PRS-700 will set you back $400 when it goes on sale next month.