Barnes & Noble made a splash last November with the launch of the $249 Nook Color, the first mainstream dedicated electronic reader with a full-color touch-screen. And the bookseller recently pushed out a major software upgrade for Nook Color to widen the appeal of its "reader tablet."
But Barnes & Noble believes there's more of a mainstream market for a less expensive dedicated black and white Nook reader.
The result is the all-new Nook touchscreen eInk reader introduced at a New York City event by Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch. The new device weighs less than 7.5 ounces, or 35% lighter and 15% thinner than the original Nook Wi-Fi was when it came out about a year and a half ago
The latest Nook fetches $139, which puts it above the $114 Amazon is charging for a Kindle with ads.
Barnes & Noble is taking pre-orders now; the device ships on or about June 10 and will be sold online and in physical Barnes & Noble and partner stores. "Our stores will continue to be at the center of the Barnes & Noble story," Lynch says.
The company claims more than 25% of the digital book market.
Arguably the biggest innovation in the new Nook is a (sealed) battery the company says can last up to two months on a single charge, double what Amazon is stating for the Kindle.
The new Wi-Fi only device will replace the original black and white Nook Wi-Fi only and Nook 3G readers, when supplies of the older models run out. (Until that happens you can get older Nooks at reduced prices of $119 and $169, respectively.)
The new Nook does not provide a 3G version, which may put off readers who don't have Wi-Fi access when they are on the go. "When you add a 3G wireless radio … that puts the price point up and we're not seeing the same amount of sales we're getting on the Wi-Fi," Lynch told me.
But Barnes & Noble does believe there are separate markets for its color and black and white readers. Lynch says the company has sold millions of Nooks to date and plan to sell millions more, but he wouldn't disclose specific numbers or break out the mix among color and the black and white devices.
He said he's not concerned about cannibalizing the market for the Nook Color. "Nook Color has been selling so well," he says. "There are two big segments out there." Though digital has the momentum, Lynch also believes physical books will hold their own for the next three to five years out.
In addition to the bolstered battery, Barnes & Noble says the new Nook has 50 percent more contrast, 80% less "flashing" and provides fast page turning and scanning features. Through the software on the device, readers can get recommendations of other books to read based on what's already in their library. The Nook bookstore has more than two million digital titles. And Barnes & Noble incorporates various lending and social sharing features.
The screen seemed responsive to my light touch during the brief period in which I got to hold the device.
Nook comes with 2GB of internal memory, which can hold about 1000 books; you can add an optional memory card to up the storage capacity to 32GB. It's built on top of a version of Google's Android operating system. Readers can choose from 7 font sizes and 6 font styles.
But Barnes & Noble believes there's more of a mainstream market for a less expensive dedicated black and white Nook reader.
The result is the all-new Nook touchscreen eInk reader introduced at a New York City event by Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch. The new device weighs less than 7.5 ounces, or 35% lighter and 15% thinner than the original Nook Wi-Fi was when it came out about a year and a half ago
The latest Nook fetches $139, which puts it above the $114 Amazon is charging for a Kindle with ads.
Barnes & Noble is taking pre-orders now; the device ships on or about June 10 and will be sold online and in physical Barnes & Noble and partner stores. "Our stores will continue to be at the center of the Barnes & Noble story," Lynch says.
The company claims more than 25% of the digital book market.
Arguably the biggest innovation in the new Nook is a (sealed) battery the company says can last up to two months on a single charge, double what Amazon is stating for the Kindle.
The new Wi-Fi only device will replace the original black and white Nook Wi-Fi only and Nook 3G readers, when supplies of the older models run out. (Until that happens you can get older Nooks at reduced prices of $119 and $169, respectively.)
The new Nook does not provide a 3G version, which may put off readers who don't have Wi-Fi access when they are on the go. "When you add a 3G wireless radio … that puts the price point up and we're not seeing the same amount of sales we're getting on the Wi-Fi," Lynch told me.
But Barnes & Noble does believe there are separate markets for its color and black and white readers. Lynch says the company has sold millions of Nooks to date and plan to sell millions more, but he wouldn't disclose specific numbers or break out the mix among color and the black and white devices.
He said he's not concerned about cannibalizing the market for the Nook Color. "Nook Color has been selling so well," he says. "There are two big segments out there." Though digital has the momentum, Lynch also believes physical books will hold their own for the next three to five years out.
The screen seemed responsive to my light touch during the brief period in which I got to hold the device.
Nook comes with 2GB of internal memory, which can hold about 1000 books; you can add an optional memory card to up the storage capacity to 32GB. It's built on top of a version of Google's Android operating system. Readers can choose from 7 font sizes and 6 font styles.
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