I love reading about this sort of stuff:

It’s especially effective for intensifying the thrills of a horror story, said Satoko Kajita, who oversees content development at Bandai Networks.

The Tokyo-based wireless service provider offers 150 books on its site, called Bunko Yomihodai, or All You Can Read Paperbacks. It began the service in 2003 and saw interest grow last year. There are now about 50,000 subscribers.

“It’s hard to understand unless you try it out,” Kajita said, adding that the handset’s backlight allows people to read with the lights off — a convenience that delights parents who like to read near sleeping infants.

Users can search by author, title and genre, and readers can write reviews, send fan mail to authors and request what they want to read, all from their phones.