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Microsoft Reader to Reach PC

ClearType technology will be available on Windows through e-book reader application.

George A. Chidi Jr., IDG News Service

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Microsoft will launch a Windows version of its Reader product, which is designed for reading electronic books, Tuesday at an event with publishing industry representatives in New York.

The technology is already available in handheld Pocket PC devices developed by Microsoft and hardware vendors Compaq, Casio, Hewlett Packard, and Symbol Technologies. To lure us to read books on an LCD, Microsoft has developed ClearType, a technology that allows small fonts to be read more clearly.

Microsoft announced ClearType at the Comdex computer trade show in fall 1998. (See "Microsoft Clears Up Your Screen.") The PC version of the Microsoft Reader also incorporates ClearType to make it easier to read on a computer display.

For content, Time Warner's Time Warner Trade Publishing, as well as Barnesandnoble.com and Simon & Schuster, have partnered with Microsoft to produce e-books for the Microsoft Reader software. Time Warner intends to publish hundreds of e-books through its IPublish division next year.

Adobe Rallies for Digital Books

The first major title to be released online for Pocket PC devices using Microsoft Reader was Michael Crichton's Timeline, available at Barnesandnoble.com. That title was published by Random House.

Simon & Schuster's experiment with e-books uses Adobe's PDF format and includes the online release of Stephen King's Riding the Bullet at $2.50 per download. King's latest book, The Plant, is available as a serial novel online at $1 per chapter paid on the honor system through King's own Web site.

By announcing a PC version of its Reader application, Microsoft extends its interest in electronic books from the portable Pocket PC to notebooks and desktops. But Adobe Systems, which develops the ubiquitous Acrobat Reader for .pdf-formatted text, may have a jump on e-books. In May, Adobe announced plans to develop an electronic book distribution system with PricewaterhouseCoopers and InterTrust Technologies. Already, novels from Mary Higgins Clark and Stephen King are available in .pdf for a variety of copyright-protecting readers. Adobe has already demonstrated Acrobat Reader for the Pocket PC.

Cameron Crouch of PCWorld.com contributed to this report.

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