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Reservations for Sharp's new Galapagos media tablet began on Friday with promotional events
at several major electronics stores.
Sharp hopes to sell a million of the devices and in doing so take the lead in Japan from
competitors like Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle.
With a bright, color LCD screen and Android operating system, the Galapagos tablet appears
closer to an iPad than a Kindle, but users can't download or install software of their
choice.
The device is limited to Sharp's e-book reader software and, from next year, a multimedia
player that will bring video and audio.
Sharp is emphasizing local content and convenience. It will have 30,000 books, newspapers and
magazines available by the end of the year.
Keiko Okada, a group general manager at Sharp "The automatic scheduled delivery service
is a big feature. You won't need to visit your mailbox each morning, your newspaper
will automatically arrive. Even if you're overseas on a business trip, it will be automatically
delivered."
The Galapagos tablet will face competition from Sony. It's Reader will also go on sale
in Japan from December 10.
Sharp plans to sell the Galapagos tablets overseas but has yet to detail launch dates,
locations and prices.
In Tokyo, this is Martyn Williams, IDG News Service�