A Nook that Glows

Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest U.S. bookstore chain, introduced a Nook e-reader with a screen that glows in the dark, challenging Amazon.com Inc. at a time when prices for digital books may soon start falling.

Both companies have touted page turn speeds, battery life and weight to attract customers. Now Barnes & Noble has added an adjustable light to the screen on its Nook Simple Touch. That’s easier than connecting a light to Amazon’s Kindle Touch, which can’t light up, and offers benefits such as helping a wife keep reading in bed while her husband sleeps, said Chief Executive Officer William Lynch.
A good idea, but the Nook trails the Kindle platform in sales and how it is perceived by the public.

Barnes & Noble, based in New York was best known for it's retail stores, has anchored its future to the fast-growing digital book market by investing in the Nook at the expense of profits as more readers adopt the technology. Less than three years after introducing the Nook.

Barnes & Noble Announces $139 "All-New Nook"

Barnes & Noble is launching a lighter, slimmer, cheaper version of its e-reader, called the All-New Nook, for $139 — the same price as the cheapest Kindle from rival Amazon.

Available June 10, the device features a 6-inch touch screen and can hold up to 1,000 digital books.

Barnes & Noble Inc. said Tuesday that the latest Nook lets readers look up words, highlight passages, search and adjust font size by typing on an on-screen keyboard. It says the device weighs 7.5 ounces and is 35 percent lighter than the first Nook. The iPad 2 is nearly three times heavier at 1.3 pounds.

The lower pricing is a sign Barnes & Noble is ready to compete on price, but they are yet to compete with Amazon's Kindle Store.

Barnes & Noble Releases a Color Nook

Another shot was fired today in the ebook reader war.  This time from Barnes & Noble, which announced a color, touchscreen version of its Nook reading device.

The NOOKcolor will go on sale Nov. 19 for $249. It has a 7-inch diagonal touchscreen that displays 16 million colors. Inside, the device has a Wi-Fi radio and 8 gigabytes of memory. It's 8 by 5 inches overall, 0.48 inches thick and weighs 15.8 ounces.

Is it an ebook reader or an Android tablet.  It appears to be both. 

It's built around the Nook electronic bookstore, which competes with Amazon.com's Kindle business, the color Nook is also aiming up-market, at the iPad and upcoming Android tablets.

The device is being pitched as a media consumption tablet, with the ability to browse the Web, play games, send e-mail, participate in social networks and store and play digital music.  Bt will people buy this device to read?

The NOOKcolor is based on Google's Android operating system -- Version 2.1. The store is inviting Android developers to build Nook applications, although they won't be able to directly transfer Android apps to the Nook because it has a custom interface and controls. This isn't good news.  Do we need another Android device with another grouping of apps?  Too confusing for me.

The new Nook will sync with Google's Gmail, so you can use Gmail contacts with social features, including a feature that lets you lend e-books to friends with Nooks.

How the NOOKcolor will do during the holiday season is anyone's guess.  What I do think is if this Nook doesn't take off, Barnes and Noble may be forced to concede to Amazon and Apple.