Barnes & Noble unveiled its $259 ebook reader today, called The Nook (specs) that competes with Amazon’s Kindle and the Sony Reader.
The Nook (wikipedia) runs on the Android Operating System and connects via AT&T’s 3G network or Wi-Fi. It supports a variety of e-book formats including PDF, FictionWise and ePub. It features color touch-screen controls with a gray-and-white reading display.
It has 2 Gbytes of internal memory, enough for about 1,500 titles, along with a MicroSD slot. A 16-Gbyte card can hold an additional 17,500 e-books. While the device runs a variation of the Android operating system, it currently doesn’t support any third party apps.
The e-book “sharing” feature lets you lend out a book, without any added cost. During the 14-day loan period, the e-book owner can’t read the book, so it works like real lending. There is no text-to-speech option on the Nook by design, and apparently no earphone jack.
Barnes & Noble has an e-bookstore on its Web site, BN.com. It also sells digital editions that can be read on the iPhone and BlackBerry, as well as on computers and laptops.
Barnes & Noble will also resell Plastic Logic’s large e-book reader, rounding out the bookseller’s upcoming products to compete with rival Amazon. Plastic Logic’s QUE, set to debut Jan. 7 at CES, will compete with Amazon’s Kindle DX. Both e-readers have 10-inch electronic paper displays from E Ink and are built to appeal to professionals.
B&N will also make available 500,000 free (public domain) titles from the Google Book Project via The Nook. If the book is out of copyright, or the publisher has given Google permission, you’ll be able to see a preview of the book, and in some cases the entire text. If it’s in the public domain, you’re free to download a PDF copy.
Other ebook readers that intend to compete with Amazon’s Kindle and Sony Readers include:
- Plastic Logic plans a larger-screen Que device coming out early next year that will be able to connect via Wi-Fi and AT&T’s 3G network.
- The IREX DR800SG is a 8.1-inch, touch-screen eReader that offers multi-mode 3G wireless capabilities. Their consumer eReader will include access to more than 750,000 titles at the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, including new releases and bestsellers at $9.99. IREX users will also have access to a comprehensive collection of newspapers and magazines.
- Spring Design plans a dual display device (3.5” touchscreen and a 6” e-Ink display). It is expected to be the first eBook Reader based on Google’s Android, and is similar to The Nook, although the company was not involved with Barnes & Noble’s device, reports C/Net.
The Internet Archive may be thinking even bigger than Google, says C/Net. Brewster Kahle announced their BookServer yesterday. It creates an open system that allows search engines to index books that are available from a wide group of sources. BookServer facilitates pay transactions, borrowing books from libraries, and downloading free, publicly accessible books.
According to Read/Write Web, the project isn’t exactly a direct effort to take down Amazon’s online bookstore, B&N’s book store or Google’s upcoming online eBook store called Google Editions, it will provide book publishers and online libraries with the means to more effectively compete with those companies. By allowing publishers to set their own pricing and manage the distribution of their books, they will be able to take back control from Amazon and Google who would rather dictate those terms.
According to The Codex Group, the number of people who own e-readers will more or less double to about 3.8 million readers by the end of this year, up from about 1.6 million in August. Forester expects sales in 2010 to double their 2009 estimate of 3 million units sold, bringing cumulative sales of eReaders to 10 million by year-end 2010.
In related news, Target has now entered the book price wars. The discounter said Monday that it would offer some of this season’s most anticipated book titles at $8.99, with free shipping, matching moves by Walmart and Amazon.com.
