Video: Barnes & Noble Debuts Touch-Screen Nook
RSSBy Kathy Ishizuka
Biggest draw of the new six-inch E-Ink device: full touch-screen navigation; an optimized page turn, with reduced flashing; extended battery life (two months with WiFi turned off); and expanded sharing features.
Through NOOK Friends, users can see friends' reading recommendations next to their profile pictures, browse each others libraries, and request to borrow a book via B & N's LendMe technology. There's also Facebook and Twitter integration. In addition to social and algorithmic results, you can view picks from Barnes & Noble staff.
Just under seven and a half ounces, the Simple Touch Reader is 35 percent lighter and 16 percent thinner than the previous Nook and features a cutout back to shape to a reader's hand. The Pearl display represents the latest generation of E-Ink, lending 50 percent greater contrast.
Dubbing it a reader fit for Grandma, B & N CEO William Lynch says that the new Nook is "designed to strip away tech and make you feel that you're reading a book."
The $139 WiFi only Simple Touch Reader begins shipping June 10. (Kobo's new Touch reader, also released during BEA, retails for $130).
Also next month, B & N will launch MyNOOK, a web-based retail and sharing platform.
