Althoug Amazon's Kindle e-book reader has been taking a bit of abuse in recent weeks, Apple may be able to do it better.

According to Indian news web site The Hindustan (web site is currently down, but the story has been corroborated by booktrade.info, Apple seems set to introduce a next-generation video iPod with a book-reading mode designed to make print easy to read.

The company has reportedly asked a number of the world's major publishing firms to commit their book libraries to their electronic archives. Customers can then download text versions of books to their video iPods and read them on the go.

Such a move would place Apple in direct competition against Amazon as well as other outfits producing alternate readers.

No details have emerged as to a potential release date for such a device.

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