Barnes & Noble launches BlackBerry e-book reader

Barnes & Noble has launched an e-reader for BlackBerry smartphones, according to the Wall Street Journal. Users can navigate their BlackBerry browser to download the e-book reader from the retailer's Fictionwise e-book retail unit. The application givers users access to free books and more than 60,000 titles for sale at the online store.

The e-reader is currently available for the Curve, Storm, Pearl, Bold, and several other BlackBerry models. It is available for free at the Fictionwise website.

In related news, mocoNews is reporting that Apple is being sued by a company for its application of the iPhone and iPod Touch as potential e-book readers. The Swiss company claims that Apple is violating a patent for a light-weight and touch-screen device with "dimensions such that [...] approximately one page of a book can be illustrated at normal size, this display being integrated in a flat, frame-like housing."

Amazon's Kindle for iPhone e-book reader and store application was released earlier this month.