Barnes & Noble debuts m-commerce app for iPhone

Bookselling giant Barnes & Noble announced the launch of its B&N Bookstore application for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch, promising users access to millions of titles. According to Barnes & Noble, which developed the free app in tandem with software partners Evryx Technologies and Spotlight Mobile, Bookstore enables users to snap a photo of a book's front cover and within seconds receive product details, editorial reviews, and customer ratings--consumers may find and reserve a copy at the nearest B&N retail location or make purchases on the go via their BN.com account. In addition, Bookstore offers details on upcoming Barnes & Noble events, directions to nearby locations, bookseller recommendations, video clips and author interviews.

Barnes & Noble operates 777 bookstores in 50 states. In April, The Street.com reported that the company is collaborating with Sprint and an unidentified manufacturer to develop an ebook device to rival Amazon.com's Kindle. Earlier this year, B&N acquired digital book retailer Fictionwise for $15.7 million--weeks later, Fictionwise announced the beta test release of eReader for BlackBerry, a free ebook application optimized for the Research In Motion device portfolio.

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