Plastic Logic reader

Feb. 9 is shaping up to be a big day for electronic book readers.

Not only is Amazon expected to introduce its next-generation Kindle reader Feb. 9, but Plastic Logic, a company developing its own e-reader, plans to make some splashy announcements at a publishing conference in New York that starts the same day.

Bill Richards of Crosscut has the story, writing, "Plastic Logic, a privately held Silicon Valley startup that plans to begin field testing its version of an e-reader later this year, says it will announce the identity of its first publishing partners at the O’Reilly conference."

That conference, O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing, runs Feb. 9-11 in New York.

Richards further reports that Plastic Logic's announcement could have implications for the struggling Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the possibility of parent company Hearst making the newspaper online only:

Plastic Logic "has been working for more than a year with Hearst’s secretive e-paper venture, FirstPaper, in Palo Alto. Plastic Logic officials confirm that their 8.5-inch-by-11-inch display screen is designed to accommodate traditional newspaper layouts," Richards writes.

Amazon has also chosen New York for its Feb. 9 announcement. Amazon hasn't said what exactly it's announcing -- describing it only as an "important" press conference -- but the fact that it's taking place at a library and involves Jeff Bezos has sparked widespread speculation that the company is rolling out the next version of the Kindle.

Update: I heard back from Plastic Logic spokeswoman Betty Taylor, who confirmed that the company will announce its first publishing partners at the O'Reilly conference. But she took issue with the statement in the Crosscut article that Plastic Logic "has been working for more than a year with Hearst’s secretive e-paper venture, FirstPaper, in Palo Alto." She called that statement "speculation" and "incorrect," but did not elaborate.