Sony strikes book deal with Google

Sony's eBook Store now has more than 600,000 titles for download

Sony has landed a deal with Google to provide more than 500,000 book titles for the Sony Reader Digital Book.

The content will be offered through Sony's eBook Store, and will consist of public domain titles from Google's book archiving project. Users can access the collection through their PCs or through Sony's PRS-505 and PRS-700 Reader devices.

The move will see the eBook Store's collection of books rocket to more than 600,000 titles available for download.

"We have focused our efforts on offering an open platform and making it easy to find as much content as possible, from our store or others, whether that content is purchased, borrowed or free," said Steve Haber, president of Sony's digital reading business division.

"Working with Google, we can offer book lovers another avenue for free books while still providing a seamless experience from our store."

The move could also help Sony in its competition with Amazon's Kindle e-book reader. The Kindle has attracted widespread attention in recent weeks after the release of the new Kindle 2 model and a patent battle with the owners of the Discovery Channel.