Barnes & Noble Inc. is introducing a new Nook eReader with a color touch screen for $249 as competition in the fast-growing industry heats up ahead of the holidays, reports the Associated Press. As the first full-color touch electronic reader, the Nookcolor stands apart from black-and-white competitors like Amazon’s Kindle. The device can be used to read books, magazines, newspapers and an expanded array of children’s titles. It also takes hints from Apple Inc.’s iPad with more games, Web browsing, music streaming and its own application store. Like earlier versions, it runs on Google Inc.’s Android operating system. Barnes & Noble, which announced the product Tuesday, said it will begin taking orders for the device online and in stores on Wednesday and begins shipping in mid-November…
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Amazon cuts Kindle price to $189 after Nook move
A price war is heating up in the electronic reader market, as Amazon cut the price of its Kindle eReader below $200 on June 21, just after Barnes & Noble did the same with its competing Nook device, reports the Associated Press. The rapid-fire moves are fanning flames in the still small but rapidly growing market that the book industry sees as a major part of its future. On June 21, online retailer Amazon.com Inc. slashed the price of the Kindle by $70, to $189, just a few hours after bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. reduced the price of the Nook by $60, to $199, and said it would also start selling a new Nook with Wi-Fi access for $149. Both the Kindle and the original Nook can wirelessly download books over high-speed data networks; the Nook also has Wi-Fi access. Seattle-based Amazon has lowered the Kindle’s price several times since the eReader with a grayscale screen debuted in 2007 at $399. The cuts also mean the price gap between these products and Apple Inc.’s touch-screen iPad, which starts at $499, is getting ever wider. The popularity of the iPad, along with a number of other tablet computers soon to be available that offer many functions, have pressured eReader makers to lower prices…
…Read MoreBarnes & Noble cuts price for its Nook eBook reader
Barnes & Noble is offering a lower-price Nook electronic reader with a Wi-Fi connection, reports the Associated Press—and it’s cutting the price on the original Nook reader. The Nook Wi-Fi is available now for $149 online at nook.com and bestbuy.com. The company is lowering the price for its original Nook, which has both 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, from $259 to $199. That undercuts the $259 Kindle sold by Amazon.com, Nook’s top competitor. The Nook Wi-Fi will ship this week for online orders and will be in Barnes & Noble and Best Buy stores later this summer. Nook users also will receive a software update that lets them jump to a specific page number in an open eBook…
…Read MoreNooks Will Be Available at Barnes & Noble Stores Beginning Wednesday
Barnes & Noble, the country’s largest book-selling chain, said that its Nook electronic reading device would be available for purchase in its stores starting Wednesday, reports The New York Times.
The Nook, which has been selling through Barnes & Noble’s Web site since late November, has only been seen in demonstration form in bookstores. Analysts had originally said that one of Barnes & Noble’s competitive advantages against Amazon.com’s Kindle device was that the bookstore had physical outlets through which it could sell the Nook.
Barnes & Noble sold out of its initial supply of Nooks before the holiday season, citing higher than expected demand.…Read More