SMH reports today that the Sony e-reader has reached Australia, to be launched next week.

The smallest e-reader Pocket Edition features a touch screen, and infrared sensors to read finger swipes.  This device sells for $229, around $76 more than Amazon’s cheapest Kindle e-reader.  It also features higher-contrast electronic ink display (16 shades of gray), is smaller in size, but still has a comparatively large screen.

The bigger models, called the Daily Edition (not able to be purchased in Australia) and the Touch Edition, have also been upgraded.  The Touch Edition will cost $299, and will have a longer battery life than the previous model.

Both the Touch and Pocket Editions are easy to use, and read from.  However, a major disadvantage is that 3G cannot be used for downloading, so users will have to sync their e-books via USB.