UPDATE: Sharp Plans Dive Into E-Book Market As iPad, Kindle Boom

(Adds executive comments, details on Sharp's plans, industry background) By Daisuke Wakabayashi Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Sharp Corp. (6753.TO) said it plans to enter the electronic-book market with two new products and a content distribution service in Japan by the end of the year, joining an ever-crowded field of companies looking to tap into the popularity of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad and Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) Kindle. Sharp said it is also in discussion with U.S. mobile carrier Verizon Wireless, jointly owned by Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and the U.K.'s Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), to bring the devices and service to the U.S. No other details were immediately available on Sharp's U.S. plans, including details of the type of business model it will use. "There is a lot of interest in this market and the technology is really coming together," said Masami Ohbatake, head of Sharp's information and communication systems business, at a news conference. Sharp showed off two devices at the event. The smaller of the two resembles an extra-large mobile phone, with a 5.5-inch screen. The other, larger device resembles Apple's iPad in scale and comes with a 10.8-inch screen. The electronics maker didn't reveal any information on the pricing of the devices. Sharp is also promoting its next-generation e-book format that will better handle Japanese text, while also more easily incorporating video and audio. Sharp said the new format will allow a single item of content to be viewed in the same way across smart phones, computers and televisions. -By Daisuke Wakabayashi, The Wall Street Journal; 813-6269-2789; daisuke.wakabayashi@wsj.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 20, 2010 04:41 ET (08:41 GMT)