Barnes & Noble's e-book reader Nook has set many a pulses racing by introducing features that were never seen in the much-loved Kindle. The debate is whether they will be able to eat into Amazon's market share, since Kindle is now a name synonymous with e-book reader.
Features in Nook
Nook was revealed on Tuesday, with a distinct feature that one can share books with another person who has the B&N e-reader software, irrespective of whether it's on their smartphone, PC, or Mac.
Another significant attraction is that the e-reader supports epub, a popular open e book standard, making sure that users can now get access to the 500,000 free, non-copyrighted Google books. Amazon could never tap on this since they have their own format in place, the .azw.
Nook also supports the pdf format making it possible to upload computer documents.
Apart from all this, the wireless Nook is powered with Google's android, has 2 gigabytes of in-built memory, and is capable of storing mp3 files and photographs.
Threat to Amazon
The price of Nook is what makes the competition with Amazon ever sharper, as $259 is also the current, recently reduced rate of Kindle. Shipping of the product starts in November.
Gartner analyst Alan Weiner has said in his blog, "The Nook is a game changer for the current market and one that will force Amazon's hand."
The Nook, according to a B&N spokesperson is like a paperback book, that is, less than five inches wide, and eight inches tall, and weighs 11.2 ounces. It also has an additional slot for adding up 16 gigabytes of memory, and a 3.5 inch color touch screen.
Also, like a paperback, one can lend it to another friend for 14 days, during which the lender cannot access the book.
According to Michael Norris, senior analyst at research firm, Simba Information, another advantage with the Nook is that B&N have featured it in their stores. For Amazon, he said "If you buy something from Amazon, you can't touch it first."
Nook's wireless capability is being powered by AT&T, and the Wi-Fi function is something that is sure to lure the customers. Amazon, on the other hand, provided 3G connection to Kindle to buy books only from them online.
Amazon's reaction
Amazon's reaction to this device is being much speculated about. Right now, they have the majority in a market with a share of 60 percent. B&N's entry into the e-book reader market has surprisingly been a little late.
One had expected the company, which has 700 retail outlets, and more than one million e-books for sale, to have responded earlier. These number exceed those of Amazon's easily.
The two companies are facing the same problems that $259 is too expensive a price for people, who are willing to shell out around $50, according to a recent study by Forrester Research.
Amazon is likely to strike back with something better and cheaper. According to Weiner, "The next move in the e-reader space belongs to Amazon. That sound you heard was the air being let out of the Kindle's tires."
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