Barnes and Noble eBook reader revealed

Seth Weintraub
|
October 14, 2009
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Barnes and Noble is set to introduce their Kindle-fighting eBook reader next week, but Gizmodo (on a tablet roll lately) beat them to it.  Hardware-wise it is an interesting concoction. It is Amazon Kindle-like eInk on top, iPhone like multi-touch color on the bottom.   The mullet of tablets or multi-sport star?

The question is: is having it both ways better?  You can read in sunlight but navigation is difficult.  You can see color multi-media below, but the space is small.  Books will have to cater towards this specific interface.

And that's the kicker. The interface will tell the tale - and for that, we'll probably have to wait until October 20th.  We have to say, however, that we like that Barnes and Noble is breaking this out rather than trying to ride its traditional business into the ground.

more picts at Gizmodo

 

Comments (4)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | October 14, 2009 - 8:44am

I don't see it very practical.

the Cappy (not verified) | October 14, 2009 - 10:03am

I might go for one of these, actually. The nice thing about it being from Barnes & Nobel is that I'll get to actually see one before I buy it. The downside is that their catalog seems a lot smaller than Amazon's. But competition is a good thing.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | October 14, 2009 - 11:35am

its a step up from the kindle, but i dont see it being a real competitor to the apple tablet. but i hope b&n adapts well to the switch to electronic media predominance. the bookstore is a nice atmosphere to read, study, relax in a social yet calm environment. i hope they realize this bc these experiences can be improved, and selling paper books isnt going to cut it for much longer.

Baka Dubbs (not verified) | October 14, 2009 - 11:46am

I am just hoping that they will bundle ebooks with standard print books. Im sitting the whole ebook thing out because I still want my print books. If they would sell me a print book and charge a $2.00 premium to include the ebook, and lock it to my device/account, I would buy one in a heartbeat. It would be so nice to carry around my some jim Butcher, G.R.R Martin, Mike Carey and other authors books in a single device, but still want to have the actually hardcovers in my library. I'll keep sitting this out until someone offers me this capability.