Japanese consumer electronics firm Sharp has become the latest vendor to enter the e-reader market and is reportedly in talks with Verizon Wireless to launch its new products in the US. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Sharp unveiled two new devices at a news conference yesterday. The smaller of the two resembles an extra-large smartphone, with a 5.5-inch screen, while the other device resembles Apple’s iPad with a 10.8-inch screen. Sharp plans to launch the devices in September, and is looking to position the tablet as the “iPad made in Japan.” It will be supported by a new platform for distributing e-books and other content that it says will handle Japanese text better than existing formats and more easily incorporate video and audio. The content-distribution service in Japan will be live by year-end, the company said.

Sharp’s move is designed to tap into the new devices segment defined by Apple’s iPad, which has led to a rush of similar devices from PC-makers and consumer electronics firms. As well as being designed for Japanese consumers, Sharp is hoping its new e-readers will also succeed in the US. The firm said it is in discussions with US number one mobile operator Verizon Wireless to bring the device and Sharp’s content-distribution format to the US, but gave no indication on when an agreement was likely to be reached. A Verizon Wireless spokesperson declined to comment. “We don’t think the iPad is the final word,” said Sharp’s Hiroyuki Nakamura. “There’s still room to create a new market in the US.” Meanwhile, Apple – which sold 3 million iPads in the first 80 days since launch – plans to start selling the product in nine new international markets on Friday, making the device available in a total of 19 countries. Analyst firm ABI Research has almost tripled its sales forecasts for tablets, and now expects the market to reach about 11 million shipments by the end of 2010, based on broader availability of the iPad.