New photos and information about Barnes & Noble’s rumored e-reader
have surfaced on tech blog Gizmodo, detailing a device seemingly tailored to match the
functionality and form-factor of rival Amazon.com's Kindle.
According to Gizmodo, which obtained information and photos from
what it
claims is an internal source, the device will feature a 6-inch e-ink
display "with an 800x600 pixel resolution." In addition, it will
feature an iPhone-like
multitouch display underneath the e-ink one, for navigating through and
purchasing books.
Photos supposedly of the e-reader can be found on Gizmodo’s site. The casing also features mechanical
next/previous page buttons, along with buttons for search, home, and what could
be user profile, as well as one-push access to the Barnes & Noble
eBookstore. Launched in July, the online storefront includes 700,000 books and
500,000 free public-domain books from Google, with the number of titles expected to increase to 1
million within a year of its launch.
The rumor-mill surrounding the Barnes & Noble
e-reader has been gearing up
steadily over the past few weeks, with the Wall Street Journal and others
receiving supposed leaks about the device’s form-factor and functionality.
Sources earlier informed Gizmodo that the e-reader would use the Google Android
operating system, which would give it access to both Wi-Fi connectivity and
applications.
Barnes & Noble has sent invitations to an Oct. 20 event in
New York City, which many are
expecting to be official announcement of the device.
The choice of New York City
to host such an event could be a deliberate swipe at Amazon.com, which chose the
city for high-profile launches of both the Kindle 2 and the Kindle DX. Those
events, headlined by Amazon.com CEO Jeff
Bezos and featuring literary celebrities such as Stephen King, may have
contributed to initially strong Kindle sales.
Although Bezos has customarily declined to break out exact figures, he
has previously claimed that Kindle-related sales bring in 35
percent of his company’s book-related revenue.
The new e-reader would represent yet another competitive threat to
Amazon.com, whose Kindle device has dominated much of the public mindshare
devoted to e-readers. Perhaps recognizing the rise of competitive threats, Amazon.com moved on Oct. 7 to slash prices on the
original Kindle device. A version
of the e-reader that can wirelessly download material in the
United States
and 100 other countries now retails for $279, while the U.S.-downloads-only
version costs $259.
Amazon.com's international customers will have access to roughly 200,000
English-language books and over 85
U.S. and
international magazines and newspapers.
International downloading for the Kindle will be hosted
by AT&T. Previous versions of the Kindle, including the 9.7-inch-screen
Kindle DX, will continue to use Sprint. Barnes & Noble, obviously, has made
no official announcements as to which wireless provider will handle downloads
for their e-reader.
Both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, along with other e-reader
manufacturers such as Sony and Plastic Logic, face potential competition from Apple’s much-rumored tablet PC< which may offer
digital books or other media through the iTunes store.
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