By With the introduction of Barnes & Noble’s Android-based eReader – the Nook – many were wondering why Barnes & Noble won’t release an Android application for smaller and similar devices with non-eInk displays. Most of the big players have already made their way to the market – with Amazon, Kobo, and Borders each having published an app in recent weeks and months – so it made no sense for Barnes & Noble to stay out of the race.
They felt that way too, fortunately, and it appears they’ve been working on their application all along. With this kind of choice, the consumers are the winners here: there’s now no excuse as to why you couldn’t feed your hunger for eBooks due to platform restrictions. “Coming Soon” is all we can gather regarding any release date, but I’m positive we’ll see this thing hit the market before the sun stops shining this summer.
[via Android & Me]
Well, it’s about damn time!
Will this be another app that Cliq users cannot use because of 1.5 like the other mainstream ebook readers? MOTOFAIL.
@Aaron that may be the case my friend, sorry for that. That’s why I dumped that phone 2 months ago for the N1 bcuz I had a feeling then that Moto wasn’t going to come through with the update, my suggestion is to dump it if you can
I may just bite on this… I’m still waiting for any more info on color e-ink… but this will do for now.
@TF one can wait forever. With Wi-Fi only Nook (and who needs a 3G version when you can tether it to your rooted Android? ;) now selling at $150 there’s no reason not to buy one. By the time color e-ink devices become available the nook will have served its purpose in full.
$150? For a _monochrome_ eBook reader? And THATS cheap?
Yikes. I have no idea what the appeal of those things are.; I’d rather just read hardcopies. The only reason I buy eBooks at all is because I can read them on my Android. No way in hell would I spend $150 on a device that only reads books, from ONE vendor, in monochrome.
@JeffDenver, you do know most hard copies of books are monochrome as well…right? Also the nook isn’t limited to one vendor. nook supports the ePub format, so just get the eBook from wherever you want to and load it up!
It is about damn time!
@JeffDenver, suddenusername is right. It supports the epub format so you can sideload books from google, sony’s ebookstore, even borrow from your local library. It is true that nook wirelessly only connects to B&N’s store for direct download, but theres over a million titles on it, over 950 thousand are free.
ebooks are also typically 25-50% cheaper than a book in a store. A friend of mine who got a nook has already made the device pay for itself just in savings. Its 1500 book capacity (with up to a 16 gig sd card expansion) makes cluttered bookshelves a thing of the past, and also boasts a couple games (chess, sudoku), a browser (only works on wifi…its in beta but it works in a pinch) and a mp3 audio player. Also, when you take it into a store, it recognizes the B&N network and it unlocks the ‘read in store’ feature which lets you read as much of any book for up to an hour each day and also gives coupon deals for things like a free coffee, 10% off an item, a free ebook, etc. nook is really a great device.
i also heard there might be itunes sync support coming.
@JeffDenver – I used to think the same way. Then someone bought me a Nook Wifi as a gift. And I’m a complete convert (not just because it was free for me). If you are an avid reader, it’s great. If you aren’t much of a reader, it’s a waste of money.
I love real books and will never give them up completely. But instead of having books taking over my space now, I can keep the ones I cherish, but have all the others on my Nook. And if you travel a bit and usually read more than one book on a trip, it’s a lot easier than lugging books around with you.
The weight and feel of it is comfortable for reading, the battery life has been excellent and the convenience factor is awesome.
I’m not interested in it being anything other than a reader and wasting battery life on stuff that I can do easily with my phone. And I’m an instant convert to eInk fandom. I’ve read eBooks on my computer and it kills my eyes after an hour. eInk is great. There is no eye strain.
Out of about 70 books on my Nook so far, I’ve only purchased one from BN simply because I’ve found so many free books or cheap books online elsewhere. I’ll probably buy more from them as I run out of reading material. The prices that I’ve seen when browsing thus far seem decent if you usually buy new releases. But if you are a Half Price Books junkie, then you’ll be paying a little extra for the convenience until they come out with 1/2 Price ebooks.
you can always look for cheap books online, there are lots of websites that sell cheap books :”;