Barnes & Noble have now brought out their own hardware based eBook reader called the Nook. Amazon currently are the main contender and rival to B&N both in the online book store arena but also now in the hardware based eBook reader device platform and I guess we have the Kindle to thank for breathing life into the field and to Sony and their readers for delivering much needed variety, but B&N and the Nook is clearly the one to beat in so many ways.
B&N have included wiFi and partnered with AT&T using their wireless network that offers both 3G for downloading books on-the-go but also wiFi hotspots for their own bricks and mortar stores. So you can walk into the store, the Nook hooks up with the wiFi hotspot automatically and you get to read books, same as you do with the physical books in the store.
The Nook also has a lending functionality which brings it closer to a real book than any eReader before it. Not only does this overcome one of the stigmas against eBooks, but it helps drive adoption of B&N’s eBook system. To read a B&N eBook, you need a B&N eBook reader, be it a Nook or their application for PC, Mac, iPhone, BlackBerry, and soon Windows Mobile. The more people they get to read B&N eBooks, the more people will be inclined to buy B&N eBooks and be able to justify buying a Nook. Very smart move on their part. Now one thing else to mention is recently B&N bought up eReader.com. Could something also be happening there with eReader and Fictionwise.com to enter into the Nook?
The device combines the energy efficient e-ink and quick response color LCD touchscreen brings together the best of both worlds. Yep, a colour LCD screen! That’s a first for the eReader platform. The LCD offers on-screen keyboard input, a “Cover Flow” style look at one’s library, dynamic buttons, music control, and whatever else will come, to complement the e-ink display for the real reading. It cuts the battery life, but it still runs more than a week between charges, which is plenty. I think this split-screen approach offers tremendous potential, particularly when one considers the next advantage…
The big surprise is that the Nook runs on Android. That opens all sorts of software possibilities for the future, both official and unofficial apps are practically assured, and with input via USB and storage via SD card, some good Nook hacks should be expected too.
Now to content…. Obviously B&N has the pull to get bestsellers on the Nook, but what about newspapers, magazines, and comic books?
Another great features that Kindle users receive is also going to be on the Barnes & Noble Nook eBook reader allowing you to sync directly with the iPhone and iPod touch. Strangely the Nook will also support the Kindle style of reading bookmarks across multiple devices.
Okay for me, I’m sold and this makes me want one over the Kindle. Now here’s the big catch for me…. I’m in the UK! Barnes and Noble are a US based company and they don’t really operate in the UK or Europe, so is this going to be another US only centric product? Time will tell! If B&N want to really take over the eBook reader market they will have to act quick, Amazon have been in this game for some time now, if they can start selling more internationally then they will surely have a hit on their hands.
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