Barnes & Noble takes on Amazon with new eBookstore

Bookseller giant Barnes & Noble announced the launch of the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, enabling consumers to purchase and read ebooks on a variety of platforms including the iPhone and iPod touch and BlackBerry smartphones, as well as most Windows and Mac laptops and desktops. According to B&N, eBookstore offers more than 700,000 titles, including new releases and bestsellers priced at $9.99 each as well as more than half a million free, public domain books from Google--that trumps rival Amazon.com's Kindle ebook platform, which boasts about 300,000 titles. Barnes & Noble adds it expects to top a million ebooks within the next year.

In conjunction with the eBookstore launch, Barnes & Noble released an upgraded edition of its device-agnostic eReader mobile application, which was part of its $15.7 million acquisition of digital book retailer Fictionwise earlier this year. First-time eReader users may now download free ebooks including Sense and Sensibility, Little Women and Last of the Mohicans. Barnes & Noble additionally announced a strategic commerce and content partnership with electronics startup Plastic Logic, whose eReader device is slated to debut in early 2010.

Barnes & Noble adds its B&N Bookstore app for iPhone and iPod touch is now the most downloaded book application in Apple's App Store. Introduced in late June, the free app--developed in tandem with software partners Evryx Technologies and Spotlight Mobile--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, B&N Bookstore offers details on upcoming Barnes & Noble events, directions to nearby locations, bookseller recommendations, video clips and author interviews.

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