Sharp Will Offer Two Tablet Devices in Japan by Year-End

Sharp Corp. (SHCAY) will sell two tablet-type computer devices in Japan by the end of the year as the company looks to expand the use of its Galapagos cloud-based media service.

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The company will begin sales of its so-called E-Book Reader, with 5.5 inch and 10.8-inch screens, in December, Sharp said in a statement today. Users will have access to subscriptions to as many as 30,000 newspapers, magazines and books when the service ships, Sharp said.

With the success of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad tablet and Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) Kindle, Sharp is one of several companies looking to jump into the e-reader market by offering a broader selection of media services, as well as portable-computing devices based on Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android operating system platform. Sony Corp. (SNE) plans to launch an electronic book service for its own e-reader by year-end, while Barnes & Noble Inc.'s (BKS) NOOK service was updated last month.

Sharp didn't disclose pricing for its e-reader and didn't announce any U.S. sales plans.