Sharp
announced on September 27, 2010 that the company will start e-bookstore
business in December this year, according to Nikkei. The e-bookstore, dubbed
Galapagos, is projected to include 30,000 books, newspapers, and magazines, and
other types of content, such as movies, music, and games will be available in the
spring of 2011.
Meanwhile,
the company also said that it will introduce a tablet computer serving as e-book
reader to support the operation of Galapagos, according to the same source. It
is reported that two screen sizes, 5.5-inch and 10.8-inch, will be available
for the new tablet product. It is projected that the Android-powered e-book
reader will be equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity. Sharp aims to sell one million
units of the new e-book reader in 2011.