| Barnes & Noble To Release E-Reader App For iPad |
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12/03/2010 17:41 (701 Day 04:09 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- Barnes & Noble plans to release an e-reader application for Apple's iPad tablet, which is expected to be released around April.
The free Barnes & Noble eReader application was released last July and now offers more than a million different titles, according to Apple Insider. The company said it will release a new, iPad-specific version of the software around the time the iPad launches.
"Designed specifically for the iPad," the company said, as the same source reports "our new B&N eReader will give our customers access to more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers in the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, as well as the existing content in their Barnes & Noble digital library. (That includes eBooks and content customers have downloaded to their nook eBook reader.)"
Because the Barnes & Noble eReader application would compete with Apple's own iBookstore, it is unknown whether the Cupertino, Calif., company would actually allow the bookseller's new third-party application to be released on the App Store, as Apple Insider informs.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Barnes & Noble, which sells its own dedicated e-book reader, the Nook, has similar free software for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch.
Despite releasing proprietary e-reader devices, both Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com have issued several applications for various platforms, including PCs and the Apple iPhone, that allow users to download and read e-books on different screens, E Week reports. Apple's iPad, due for release on April 3, presents both companies with the prospect of a hardy competitor in a market that is rapidly filling with devices from smaller manufacturers looking for their own slice of the pie.
Apple has already begun showing ads for the iPad: A 30-second television spot highlights the tablet PC's multiple uses as a media player, e-reader, scheduler and e-mail platform, according to the same source. Around 150,000 applications will be available for the iPad upon its release, according to the Apple Website, a slight rise from the 140,000 predicted during the device's Jan. 27 product unveiling. One of those applications will be from Barnes & Noble; Amazon.com has not yet announced plans for a similar iPad-ready Kindle application. According to the Kindle site, a Kindle for Mac application is "coming soon."
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