The Amazon Kindle may have achieved dominant mind share in e-book readers, but Sony is hoping to grab the attention of potential adopters by offering the cheapest e-reading device.

The Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300), a 5-inch e-book reader announced yesterday, will only cost $199, beating Amazon's Kindle 2 by $100. In July, Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle 2 to $299, knocking more than 15% off of its retail price.

Shortly after lowering the price of the Kindle 2, NPD announced a study on e-readers which shows that interest in the devices is not limited to "the avid affluent bestseller reader," but that widespread adoption will be achieved by an affordable device which supplies up-to-date magazine-style content.

While it will be providing the most affordable e-reader thus far, Sony has still not announced a comprehensive plan for magazine distribution. Instead, the company yesterday announced that it will cut the price of best-sellers to $9.99.

Amazon's Kindle, on the other hand, offers subscriptions to a large number of Kindle-formatted magazines such as Newsweek, Time, The New Yorker, and The Economist. Issues are automatically pushed to the subscriber's Kindle as they become available and incur only a moderate subscription fee.

Because Sony's Readers lack wireless connectivity, such a convenience is impossible, and users are forced to connect their devices to a PC to add new content.

Next year, Plastic Logic will debut its own wireless e-reader which will get its content from the Barnes & Noble e-bookstore, a site with over 700,000 titles but also lacking in the magazine department.

It is still unclear if Hearst Publishing's rumored interest in the e-book market will manifest itself as magazine content for Plastic Logic's reader, or if it will go elsewhere.

Sony did not announce a launch date or the official specs, but due to a leak on J&R earlier this week, the details of The PRS-300 are not a mystery.

PRS-300:

• Price: $199
• Screen Size: Vizplex 5 inches
• Resolution: 800 x 600 pixels
• Gray Scale: 8-levels gray scale
• Battery Type: Rechargeable Lithium-Ion (battery: DC 3.7 V)
• AC Power: DC 5.2 V
• Battery Life (Approx): 7,500 (BBeB Book)
• 6.2" L x. 4.2" W x 2" D, Weight: 7.76 oz.
• Ships with a USB Cable, Sleeve, Quick Start Flyers

Media Formats Supported: Unsecured Text: EPUB File (Non DRM/ Adobe DRM protected), BBeB Book (Non DRM/ PRS DRM protected), PDF file (Non DRM/ Adobe DRM protected) DRM Text: Text file, RTF file, Word file (unsecured)