NEW YORK---- With the market for electronic books still relatively sleepy, Sony Corp. is trying a new tack: untethering the latest model of its e-book reading device from its own online bookstore. On Thursday, Sony will provide a software update to the Reader, a thin slab with a 6-inch screen, so the device can display books encoded in a format being adopted by several large publishers. That means Reader owners will be able to buy electronic books from stores other than Sony's. ''This upgrade opens the door to a whole host of paid and free content from third-party e-book stores, Web sites and even public libraries,'' said Steve Haber, senior vice president of consumer product marketing for Sony Electronics. With the move, Sony is partly letting go of its e-book business model, under which it sold the $300 device and the books...
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