The New York Times reports today that both Google and Amazon are expanding their forays into the electronic book world, Google by offering paid full access to scanned copyrighted material and Amazon by introducing a wireless eBook reading device:

In October, the online retailer Amazon.com will unveil the Kindle, an electronic book reader that has been the subject of industry speculation for a year, according to several people who have tried the device and are familiar with Amazon’s plans. The Kindle will be priced at $400 to $500 and will wirelessly connect to an e-book store on Amazon’s site.[...]

Also this fall, Google plans to start charging users for full online access to the digital copies of some books in its database, according to people with knowledge of its plans. Publishers will set the prices for their own books and share the revenue with Google. So far, Google has made only limited excerpts of copyrighted books available to its users.

Following a failed history in the late 90s, eBooks appear to be on the verge of a comeback following the introduction last year of Sony's Reader product. Unlike the Kindle, however, the Reader does not have wireless functionality and must be connected to a computer to download new content.

[NY Times] Envisioning the Next Chapter for Electronic Books