Barnes & Noble whips out Nook e-reader
Wants to screw over Kindle
Details of Barnes and Noble's electronic reader hit the internet today ahead of the device's expected launch.
Nook: The Barnes and Noble e-reader
Details of the electronic reader leaked onto the web today, and seemed to set tech writers drooling. The machine will be based on Android and features a touchscreen.
It's packing wireless updating from an unnamed carrier. The price tag will be $260 (£157/€173), in line with the Kindle, and with the promise of discounted e-titles and Google Books titles.
Other features gleaned by the WSJ from an ad set to run in the New York Times include the ability to "lend" e-books to friends.
The leaked photos were enough to prompt Wired to declare the Kindle "old-fashioned looking" by comparison.
However, it is the name which is certain to grab most attention - at least in certain English markets. It's a truism that it is porn that drives the adoption of all new technologies, so it is refreshingly honest of B&N to dub its new baby the Nook e-reader. With the accompaniment of an appropriate range of Nook e-books, how can it fail? ®
COMMENTS
@Blake St Claire
Ahh give him a break.
At least he used the correct 'too', 'it's' and 'you're' :-)
e-books as gifts
I have a friend who likes to buy people books as gifts (birthday/xmas whatever), I have a Sony PRSwhatever, can she buy me an ebook?
From what i have seen e-book purchases (especially DRM ridden ones) are purchased for use on the device that the user is registered to.
No text search
Still no text search and annotations? Fail.
We know what you read last week...
One step closer to having a big brother who will serve you with pop up ads. What I'm waiting for is the brain implant that can simply transfer the book into my head along with the scent of the book for added realism!
I don't get these either and am not interested in owning one. I get it that it can hold lots of books that free up shelf space, but it's one more gadget to mange, keep charged, can break easily, and some crackhead will kill you for.
Shiny!
Looks good, though at the price tag.. Still too steep compared to the good old dead tree format. If the prices of books were commensurately cheaper (i.e. half the price) then sure.. I'd make the money back over time. Lending is a good thing; I'll have to see how that works (though how one lends to a friend that doesnt' have one of these is a mystery).
As an aside, something screwy seems to be going on with the 'add a comment' login.. I just got someone else's email address on the email line.. Anyone else seen that?
