Ever since Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, flexed his muscle and stood solidly behind the Amazon Kindle, the war of e-book readers has become white hot. The large book resellers have jumped into the bandwagon with their own propietary gadget in an effort to rake in millions of greenbacks from the emerging electronic books industry which has a rising trend.
Photograph of the Color Nook e-book reader. Credit: Barnes & Noble
The latest kid in the block is the Color Nook which promises to give the Kindle a run for its money. The $249 Color Nook, which has a 7-inch color touch-sensitive LCD screen and weighs les than a pound ships on November 19, just before the Christmas Holidays.
Barns & Noble decided to run the gadget with Google’s Android operating system bypassing Microsoft and Apple software. This color e-book reader offers additional functionality such as Web browsing, audio and video playback, and some basic games. It has a built-in Wi-Fi, but no 3G, and comes with 8 GB of internal memory which I think is the bare minimum. B&N plans to sell some apps through its own stores. Sounds familiar?
The color gadget can be used to read books, magazines, newspapers and an expanded array of children’s titles. However, its main feature is the reading experience in direct confrontation with Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader. The battery is expected to last roughly eight hous which pales in comparison with the longer battery charge of Amazon’s Kindle—a single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off.
I understand the Color Nook will be available at Best Buy, Walmart and soon Books-a-Million stores, along with B&N stores. The guns are aimed squarely at the Kindle. However, due to its color features, medium-sized LCD screen, and light weight, it’s also a good alternative to the bulkier and more expensive Apple iPad. It will be interesting to watch how consumers react to this new baby. Good Day.
