BN Presents "Simple, Pure" $139 Reader, Says Nook Color Is No. 2 Tablet

PublishersLunch

If I'm being honest, as I usually try to do, the working book trade press corp showed up at Barnes & Noble's Union Square store this morning with a bit of resentment. Why was the company pulling us away from the Javits floor on the opening morning of BEA to introduce an already leaked eInk touchscreen device? Particularly when those nice Canadians from Kobo unveiled their $129 touchscreen reader modestly at Javits Center yesterday. Also odd at first, and then just plain annoying (and a little pathetic), was a claque of roughly sixty people wearing black t-shirts emblazoned with "nook," apparently instructed to clap and whoop loudly at regular intervals during the presentation.

As expected from pre-announcement leaks, the new device is an eInk Pearl display full-touchscreen ereader, with a six-inch screen, priced at $139, which will start shipping on or about June 10 (available for pre-orders now). They say it weighs just under 7.5 ounces, and promise that it has "battery life of up to two months on a single charge," proclaiming twice the life of Kindle's device. (It's a "wholly contained battery unit.") By removing the buttons - Lynch touted the Nook as having 37 fewer buttons than the Kindle - the Nook is a smaller, more paperback-sized reader. 

Lynch also says their engineers have mostly solved the "flashing" effect of page turns, saying "users will see 80 percent less flashing." Later in the presentation the company notes they developed "proprietary technolgoy so that each page dissolves into the next." Another software improvement lets readers "flip" through any book quickly.

Lynch did side-by-side comparisons with the current Kindle model to demonstrate BN's product leadership, though there was no mention ofthe Kobo touchscreen model introduced yesterday.

Lynch pitched the new model as designed for people "looking for just a simple, pure reading experience." Separately, talking about Nook Color, he declared that "it's our belief that it's the bestselling android tablet in the US," and the second bestselling tablet of any kind, albeit way in the rear-view mirror of the iPad. During the Q&A session Lynch declined to predict how much their market share might continue to grow, saying simply he expects "we will continue to gain share--I won't give you a number because it's arbitrary." He also said "we are looking at international opportunities. There are a lot of people very interested" and "clearly it's a big opportunity."

Kobo Also Introduces a New Touchscreen Reader

As Borders ceo Mike Edwards recently leaked in part, Monday morning at BEA the Kobo executive team announced their new ereader — a $129.99 model with an eInk Pearl screen—which raises the bar for tomorrow’s announced features and price point for Barnes & Noble’s expected touchscreen ereader. Kobo will have the new model on display starting tomorrow at their BEA booth, and visitors to Borders' Columbus Square location can test it out between noon and 2 PM Tuesday. Kobo says the new model will ship in early June, though Borders' release says it won't ship until July. Kobo's wi-fi model will remain in production, now officially priced at $99.99 (where it has been discounted to recently).

As we reported recently based on an internal Borders interview with ceo Mike Edwards, Borders will indeed rebrand its ebookstore and ereading app under the Kobo name, and will "share in the profits of all Kobo e-content sales" from devices sold by all US retailers. Kobo also claims to have 10 percent of the US market, according to the FT.