The Nook: latest e-reader
The Nook costs 259 dollars — the same price as the basic Kindle — and will be available at the end of November, Barnes and Noble said.
The device, powered by Google’s open-source Android software, features a black-and-white electronic ink display for reading books and a color touchpad for navigation, storing books or making purchases.
Barnes and Noble said readers will have access through its online bookstore to more than one million books, newspapers and magazines.
They will also be allowed to lend e-books to other users for free for up to 14 days to read on various devices including the Apple iPhone, the iPod touch and certain BlackBerry and Motorola smartphones.
Barnes and Noble said the Nook, which is about the size of a paperback book, can hold up to 1,500 e-books.
The Nook is the latest entrant in an increasingly crowded e-reader market.
Plastic Logic, a Mountain View, California-based company, said Monday it will announce the availability of an e-reader for business professionals called the “QUE” at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
Another US company, Spring Design Inc. announced plans Monday to release an e-reader known as “Alex” also powered by Google’s Android software.
The Fremont, California-based Spring said it was currently in discussions with major content partners and planned to release the device later this year.
The Alex features dual screens — a main electronic paper display screen and a secondary color liquid crystal display (LCD) screen for Web browsing.
Other companies offering e-readers include Japan’s Sony, Britain’s Interead, maker of the “Cool-er,” and Dutch company IREX Technologies.
Apple is also rumored to be coming out with a portable tablet computer early next year that may double as an e-reader.
Forrester Research estimates that three million e-readers will be sold in the United States this year, up from a previous forecast of two million units, and for e-reader sales to double to six million units next year.
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