Barnes and Noble’s Nook: E-Reader with a Touch of Color and Whole Lot of New Features!

Oct 21, 2009 by Abbas

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B&N Nook Amazon Kindle had little competition from Sony when it comes to a electronic reader. However, with Barnes & Noble joining the digital reader wars things might change for Amazon. Though Amazon is a step ahead of the competition by making Kindle available around the world I wouldn’t mind trading mine with something better.

And for the record I seriously think Apple has not intentions of sitting out on this one! Apple will soon release a device which not only offers access to books but does a lot of other things in a better way, true Apple style.

Barnes & Nobles confirmed the rumors and speculations going around in the last week by announcing its e-reader called “Nook” which runs on Android.

The first look at Nook and I thought it looks like a bigger version of iPhone, doesn’t it? Nook is powered with Google’s Android platform which enables the device with quite a few advanced features which the existing e-readers lack.

Nook offers color display with touch navigation, electronic ink paper display for ease of read, Wi-Fi connectivity, Memory expansion, Replaceable battery, etc.. most of the device features I just mentioned are exclusive to Nook and cannot be found on Kindle.

Watch the video to see Nook in action..

Following comparison chart between Nook and Kindle offers a deeper look at both the devices. And obviously as this chart is prepared by B&N it is poised to have more red x’s on the Kindle’s side of the chart.

The device also offers interesting first-time features like..

Nook Lending: With Barnes & Noble LendMe technology readers will be able to lend books to eachother on devices like Nook, iPhone, iPod touch, Blackbery, PC, or Mac. A book can be lent for a maximum of 14days and during this time the book will not be available with the lender to read. How cool is that!

Coupons and Discounts: The moment you walk into B&N store with your brand new Nook you will automatically start seeing the current discounts and exclusive coupons on your screen.

Touch and Feel: This is something Kindle does not come with, a chance to use the device at B&N store before you buy it.

Free Wi-Fi: The company offers free Wi-Fi for Nook readers across its stores. It’s a good feature but does not WOW me as I am not charged for using 3G anyway!

Wide Range of Books: BN makes over a million books available on Nook and about 500,000+ free books from Google’s Books Project. Thats more books than you can ever ask for!

Overall I think Nook definitely beats Kindle on several levels and is a serious competitor to Kindle’s popularity and growth. However, Amazon has a bigger global presence which will help the company keep the lead for at least some time to come.

Nook is certainly a breath of fresh air in the colorless world of e-readers but the innovation does not stop here, it’s just the beginning of a revolution in the book industry.

Nook is now available for shipping and is priced at $259 + $69.95 (optional) protection plan for two years. Click here to buy.