As a "non-welded to any particular ereader device", ebook fan, I've bought books at a lot of different ebook retailers, and I've read them on a lot of different devices / ebook clients. My go to device for ebooks is my Android tablet these days, mostly because of the choices it gives me. Those choices have just expanded to include the Sony Reader™ app. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sony.drbd.tablet.reader.other.global(link is external)
I was asked to take a look at the new Sony Reader store https://gb.readerstore.sony.com/(link is external) which provides another excellent option for purchasing ebooks (and they did provide me with a voucher to facilitate this review).
The site is easy to use and the sign up process, started on a web browser / completed via the app once I'd downloaded it from the Play Store (because I could :) ), was easy and very straightforward. As you'd expect the buying process is streamlined and easy - both from the browser and the app (not surprisingly probably my shopping cart didn't sync between the two locations but the library of books did as soon as the purchase was completed).
The range of mainstream ebooks is good, with most of the well-known authors that I looked for available. As is often the way the midlist and small publishers are not as widely covered. But the website was easy to use and very appealing to look at, and there are ebooks there in languages other than English.
What is particularly appealing though is the Sony Reader™ app. It's really a joy to use. Clear, responsive and solid, the controls are easy to access (one tap - anywhere in the centre of the screen = no more mad tapping all over the screen until you remember where the darn settings options is!). The fonts are clear, the size options good and all of the other expected elements are there. MyLibrary is easy to manage and there's an option to scan and pick up local books (not sure if this means just books which have DRM on them or not). The app is available for a wide range of platforms, but you will need to have your Adobe ID / password when you set up the app.
The option I was particularly pleased to see was "Collections" - basically you can create your own shelves, or categories to put books into. Given the size of the elibraries I'm building this is something I've been longing for in other ereader clients - so was particularly pleased to see it here.
Great to see another option that's coupled to an app available on a wide range of platforms - hopefully they will continue to expand the range of available books even further. http://gb.readerstore.sony.com/