The Sony Reader, an iPod-style device that resembles a large electronic organiser, allows users to download up to 100 books. It turns pages at the touch of a button and is set to be launched in the United States this year. If it proves a success, the Reader will be launched in Britain.

Sony has signed agreements with leading book publishers such as Random House and Harper Collins, which is owned by News International, publisher of The Times, to create digital versions of thousands of leading titles, including Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

Publishers have welcomed the emergence of new technology that relies on its content. However, the availability of their books online has raised concerns over copyright and security.

Adrian Strain, a spokesman for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries, said that the publishing industry was facing some of the issues to confront music companies a couple of years ago.

“For record companies, [music downloading] has created a fantastic opportunity to license music in diverse new ways — but at the same time there has been the challenge of stopping the content getting pirated and making sure the artists and producers get properly paid for it,” he said.

Victoria Barnsley, chief executive of Harper Collins UK, said that while making its library available online could expose it to illegal filesharing, publishers did not face the same difficulties as the music industry. “This is more of a problem in the music industry, where people could share their CD collections on illegal websites,” she said. “They can’t exactly do the same thing with their book collections.”

Publishers are counting on devices such as the Sony Reader to be a success. Ms Barnsley said: “We have started creating a digital library of our whole catalogue. Whether it is the Sony Reader that proves successful or the next generation of reading devices, this could be a big market and provide opportunities for publishers.”

Richard Sarnoff, head of corporate development at Random House in the United States, said that it will take time for the Reader to appeal to a mass audience. “In the early days, it will be bought by tech-lovers who can afford to pay the higher price and those who want to use it for practical reasons,” he said. However, in the long term, such devices would be adopted by business travellers and students.

Sony is understood to be working on new devices that will download books straight on to the device without using a computer. Such improvements would make the Readers more attractive to consumers, Mr Sarnoff said.

Younger generations, in particular, would welcome the experience of having 100 books stored in one device, he said. “Children are growing up with iPods and no longer have treasured CD collections,” he said.

“They are also growing up surfing the net and have multichannel television and are used to the ‘grazing’ mentality. They will welcome switching from one book to the other using a single device.”

Michael Gartenburg, technology analyst at JupiterResearch, of the United States, said: “Sony has a good chance of making a success of its new device. The key is price and content. Downloadable books have to cost less and consumers must have access to thousands of books.”

Sony said that electronic books, which will be available on its website, would be cheaper than paper versions. It was believed to be negotiating with publishers.

The success of the Reader is important to the electronics giant. Its invention of the Walkman in 1979 changed the way that we listen to music, but it has lost out to Apple’s iPod. It now wants to do for books what Apple did for music.

Times Recommends

• Gazprom brands Ukraine 'a barbarian' in gas row
• Services sector raises fears over UK jobless
• Retailers surge as profits survive sales plunge