A Preview of Barnes & Noble's Nook eBook Reader
The Nook Looks to Be Stiff Competition for Amazon's Kindle
Oct 22, 2009
When Amazon released the white-clad, user-friendly Kindle in 2007, it was rightly compared to the original iPod. The Kindle’s goal was to make the eBook industry mainstream. However, at $399, consumers found it hard to justify purchasing a niche device that could only download a small selection of books from Amazon’s own store. It wasn’t until Oprah Winfrey endorsed the device and a subsequent price drop that the Kindle accomplished its goal.
Now that the eBook reader market has gained a considerable amount of steam, Barnes & Noble is hoping to best Amazon’s “white knight” with its own device, the Nook.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook is Stylish and Functional
The $259 Nook follows a similar form factor seen in other eBook readers. It’s sleek, minimal and avoids the need for many buttons by incorporating something not seen in other eBook readers - a secondary color touch-screen.
While the 6-inch E Ink (R) display will be used for reading, the 3.5-inch color touch-screen that sits below will be used to access over a million titles in Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, as well as navigate chapters within a book and a variety of the device’s settings. Users will be able to download more books and look up words they don’t know without leaving the book they’re currently reading.
Fill the Nook with Books Using WiFi or 3G
Other features that set the Nook apart from the competition are built-in WiFi and a SD card slot to expand storage up to 16GB. The device comes with 2GB built in, allowing up to 1,500 books to be stored at a time. A 16GB SD card will increase capacity up to 17,500 books - more than enough to keep even the most avid readers busy.
Nook owners will have access to free WiFi at all Barnes & Noble stores and if WiFi isn’t available, books can be downloaded for free over AT&T’s 3G network, similar to the Kindle’s Sprint-powered Whispernet.
“LendMe” a Book from Your Nook
Perhaps the Nook’s most intriguing feature is “LendMe”. Barnes & Noble’s LendMe technology allows the user to lend a book to another Nook owner for up to two weeks. Don’t own a Nook yet? Don’t worry. If you have an iPhone/iPod Touch, Blackberry, PC or Mac, you can also borrow books from Nook users for two weeks at a time.
The Nook looks to be a promising entry into the electronic book reader market. WiFi connectivity, a color touch-screen and expandable storage could force other companies’ hands, resulting in more advanced devices and lower prices. With an industry leader like Barnes & Noble behind the device, the Nook should have no problem climbing to the top. For more information about the Nook, check out Barnes & Noble’s Nook section of their website.
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