Barnes & Noble launches largest eBook Store

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 21 July 2009 03:19

Your IT - Entertainment

Barnes & Noble, the world's largest bookseller, has launched the Barnes & Noble eBookstore offering 700,000 eBooks - plus half a million free, courtesy of Google - that can be downloaded and read on a wide range of platforms, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Windows and Mac PCs and, exclusively, the forthcoming Plastic Logic eReader.

B&N claims that the store, at www.bn.com/ebooks offers the world's largest selection of eBooks available in one place and it expects the number of titles on offer to increase to well over one million titles within the next year, "inclusive of every available eBook from every book publisher and every available eBook original."

The inventory at launch includes more than a half-million public domain books from Google, which can be downloaded free. B&N claims that: "Readers can discover and explore this rich treasure trove, including everything from classic works by well-known writers to long-forgotten and obscure titles that are historically much harder to access."

The key to making this inventory available across a wide range of platforms is an upgraded version of B&N's eReader application, which was part of the company's Fictionwise acquisition earlier this year. This device-agnostic application supports both wireless and wired access to the new eBookstore and, according to B&N, "Millions of Internet-enabled devices are currently supported by eReader, including the nation's two leading smartphone device families from Apple and Blackberry, as well as most Windows and Mac laptops or full-sized computers."

According to B&N, "In addition to enabling customers to easily place orders for books, movies, and CDs...using the iPhone's camera, customers can snap a photo of the front cover [of a book] and within seconds get product details, editorial reviews, and customer ratings – even find and reserve a copy in the nearest store. The app also includes a store locator, bestseller lists, book recommendations, and a store events calendar."

First-time users of the eReader can download four free eBooks: Merriam-Webster's Pocket Dictionary, Sense and Sensibility, Little Women, Last of the Mohicans, Pride and Prejudice, and Dracula.

B&N also announced a strategic commerce and content partnership with Plastic Logic, whose "ultra thin 8.5 x 11 inch wireless eReader" designed for business professionals is slated to debut in early 2010 and under which it will operate will operate the eBookstore for the device.