A Venture in E-Books

Online bookstore Barnes & Noble.com, which just this month launched Barnes & Noble Digital, an electronic publishing imprint, will be the only online book retailer linked to Adobe Systems Inc.'s Acrobat eBook Reader 2.0 Web site.

At least for now, Barnes & Noble.com and the Adobe site will be the only online locations where the software can be downloaded, an Adobe spokesman told internetnews.com in an exchange of e-mail. No financial arrangements were disclosed.

The application, apparently an updated version of Adobe's Glassbook software, reportedly makes electronic books readable on ordinary computer screens, not just hand-held devices. The Adobe site apparently will link to the book retailer and vice-versa.. The official announcement was expected Tuesday.

Online book business rival Amazon.com also has an electronic book store, and both companies currently support most of the major electronic book reader formats.