Barnes and Noble will now sell the “Nook”, their addition to the eBook Reader market, dominated largely by the Kindle and the Sony Reader. What’s so special about the Nook according to Barnes and Noble?
The Nook Unique Feature #1- The Nook eBook Reader boasts a lively color navigation screen. This means full color when you are scrolling through your eBook title covers, newspapers, magazines, etc. The Kindle 2 is still a gray-scale screen. Is this a positive for the Nook?
The Nook Unique Feature #2- The Nook is boasting the ability to lend books to other people who have the “app” on their smart device. So the lendee doesn’t necessarily have to have the Nook, but only the app. This app works on iPhone, Blackberry Touch, etc… The person who lends the book can do so for up to 2 weeks, and will not have access to the book while they lend it. Advantage or not even a feature?
The Nook Feature #3- The “E Ink” screen is a key technology on this new device, and is also a feature on the Kindle 2. This screen display technology is “clearer than actual book text” according to the folks at Barnes and Noble. You can make the font as large and small as you want as well.
The Nook Unique Feature #4- The Nook has the ability to sync with almost any smart-device on the market today. The Nook is powered by the Google software, “Android”, and is compatible with over 100 other electronic devices on the market. So there are four ways the Nook is a unique addition to the eBook Reader market.
All these features are unique to the Amazon Kindle 2.
The Kindle 2 doesn’t have a color navigation screen, but does have the same “E-ink” screen, so this is comparable.
The Kindle doesn’t yet give you the ability to lend books like the Nook does. We will see if this feature is something the consumer embraces, or if it is an overlooked feature.
The Kindle does however have a “text to speech” feature so you can switch to speech while driving in the car. The Kindle has the ability to sync with a few devices, but will not compete with the fact that Nook will sync with 100’s of devices. Android software is not a proven system however, and we will have to see how the developers embrace Google’s new platform.
