Nook for Android now available to download, offers eBook lending

Well, what do you know? Turns out you don't actually need to invest in a Nook e-reader to enjoy the experience on your existing smartphone. And considering that the average Android smartphone will boast a display larger than your face within 2 years (if current trends continue, anyway), we'd say we could be onto something good here. At any rate, B&N's own eBookstore app is now available for Google's dear mobile OS, landing just weeks after Amazon pushed its Kindle app out into the same marketplace. Of course, B&N's not shying away from the competition, dubbing its app "the only Android e-reader application to offer eBook lending." It's available to download now on devices rocking Android 1.6 or above, and yes, even Android users can pick up on another platform where you leave off on your phone. Fancy.

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Barnes & Noble Introduces NOOK™ for Android™ –

An Easy-to-Use Free eReader Application for Android Devices

Announcement Marks Shift to Consistent NOOK Branding

Across Barnes & Noble eReading Offering

New App Gives Android Users Access to the Barnes & Noble eBookstore with More than One Million Digital Titles and Personal B&N Digital Library

Only Android eReader Application to Offer eBook Lending

New York, New York – July 22, 2010 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, today introduced NOOK for Android, a fun and easy-to-use Barnes & Noble eReading experience for those with Android-based smartphones and devices. The new application is the latest addition to Barnes & Noble's slate of free, popular eReader software and the only Android eReader application offering the ability to share eBooks with friends.

The new Android app is also the first eReader software to feature Barnes & Noble's new NOOK-centric branding, leveraging the strength of the company's NOOK brand across its entire eReading offering. NOOK for Android will soon be followed by an updated NOOK for iPhone®, NOOK for iPad™, and others in the coming months. The new eReader software branding aligns with the company's current NOOK offering – NOOK 3G and NOOK Wi-Fi® eBook Readers, and the recently announced NOOKstudy™ online study platform and software solution for higher education.

NOOK for Android offers those with devices using Android OS 1.6 and higher the ability to shop Barnes & Noble's expansive eBookstore of more than one million eBooks, including new releases, bestsellers and free classics, and download titles in seconds. Any customer's personal Barnes & Noble eBook library – purchased on a NOOK eBook Reader, online at BN.com or on another BN eReader-enabled device – will easily sync to their device in seconds so their library goes wherever they go.

NOOK for Android offers a fun and immersive eReading experience with the ability to customize text with many font styles and sizes, an easy-to-use navigation bar, reading in landscape and portrait modes, and graphical page turns. It is also the first Android eReader application to offer digital lending. Using Barnes & Noble's unique LendMe™ technology, customers can easily share eligible eBooks for up to 14 days with friends, who can enjoy these digital titles on a NOOK eBook Reader, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch® and PC enabled with free BN eReader software.

"NOOK for Android is customizable, fun and easy to use and we're excited to deliver the most-requested version of our free eReading software to the growing number of mobile customers using Android-based devices," said Douglas Gottlieb, Vice President, Digital Products for Barnes & Noble.com. "Android customers can enjoy the great NOOK eReading experience on their mobile device, including access to our vast digital catalog and their personal B&N digital library at their finger tips. And, of course, Android users can now enjoy Barnes & Noble's unique eBook lending feature to share their favorite eBooks with friends."

Added Gottlieb, "With NOOK for Android, and the other renamed software to follow, customers can also easily recognize and have confidence in Barnes & Noble's NOOK brand to provide them with a fun and easy-to-use eReading experience on any device of their choosing."

Key features available in NOOK for Android include:


· Shop Barnes & Noble's vast eBookstore: Search, explore and browse through more than one million digital titles at www.bn.com/ebooks directly by touching Shop Books from the Library. There are more than a half-million free eBooks available and free samples are offered for all eBooks. Learn more about titles from thousands of editorial and customer reviews. Pick a current bestseller, a classic or anything in between and download it wirelessly in seconds.

· Access your personal B&N digital library: All eBooks purchased through the Barnes & Noble eBookstore sync in seconds and are ready to read in your Library.

· Lend to friends: NOOK for Android is the only Android eReading app that offers eBook sharing with friends.

· Read your way: Customize the eReading experience by choosing from eight font types and five sizes, read in landscape or portrait modes and lock the screen orientation.

· Enjoy the read: The fun and immersive experience offers animated or sliding page turns, a navigation scroll bar, bookmarks and more.

· Easy access to your content: Using the Library List view, see the cover art, sort and filter your eBooks by author, title or recent reads. Access rich product details for the selected eBook, including the synopsis and more books from that author.

· Read across multiple devices: Android users can now complement their eReading experiences with Barnes & Noble's other eReader experiences such as NOOK eBook Readers, previously announced eBook readers powered by the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, and a variety of other computing and mobile devices, including iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry® and HTC HD2™ smartphones, HP computers, PC and Mac®.

· Pick up where you left off: Sync the last page read of the last eBook opened on an Android device with BN eReader (soon to be renamed NOOK) software-enabled devices including PC and iPad. Coming soon, both will sync with NOOK for iPhone and more devices to follow.

· Follows the standard: Read eBooks formatted in ePub, quickly becoming the industry standard.

Those signing up for a new BN.com account when downloading the new application, will also find three Barnes & Noble Classics Series eBooks – Dracula, Little Women and Pride & Prejudice – in their libraries, along with samples of two current bestselling eBooks.

NOOK for Android is now available at www.bn.com/nookforandroid. Barnes & Noble continually enhances its eReader software and will add new features to its Android offering this summer including highlights and notes, a search library and look-up feature, library grid-view and more. For more information on free BN eReader (soon to be renamed NOOK) software and apps, please visit www.bn.com/ebooks/download-reader.asp.

The Barnes & Noble Digital Library Advantage

Barnes & Noble's Lifetime Library™ helps ensure that Barnes & Noble customers will always be able to access their digital libraries on a variety of devices as well as on BN.com. In addition, Barnes & Noble's use of ePub format and Adobe technology allows customers to read all of their digital content across a growing universe of devices.

[moodmuzik Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:13AM]

God that droidX screen looks amazingly sexy.

[maxkirsch Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:15AM]

@moodmuzik

until you have to hold it

[Cameron Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:16AM]

@maxkirsch

How 'bout giving us a nook app for iPhone as well instead of that crappy vanilla B&N reader, hm?

[Revolutionary Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:17AM]

@maxkirsch

"until you have to hold it"

which you still can continue to make calls.

[dswatson83 Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:25AM]

@maxkirsch
Which is more important...comfort to hold the phone or being able to see whats on the screen. I'll take the larger screen anyday.

[ruby Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:45AM]

@moodmuzik

This is Nice.. Now let's get some Motorola Droids on Sprint please

[rutter9 Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:19PM]

@ruby

I wish it would sync my own docs I converted to ePub...

[nalsecks Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:33PM]

@Cameron
How about us Android users get some iPhone apps. All I get is naked Asian chicks and fart sound boards.

[Funkendoodles Posted Jul 22nd 2010 5:54PM]

@Revolutionary Not while downloading an ebook on Sprint or Verizon

[gamerneek Posted Aug 17th 2010 6:13PM]

@nalsecks Jobs banned the naked Asian chicks.

[MsCG1 Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:18AM]

Thank goodness. I've missed being able to sync my nook books through my evo the way I did with my blackberry. What a hassle.

[GreenBasterd Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:18AM]

Lol wut?

[metformin Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:19AM]

ouch, the x has already taken over the droid..shame, it hasnt even been a year!

[LANjackal Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:20AM]

@metformin I was about to say the same myself

[Fredfrombelgium Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:21AM]

That app is sexy!

[Hero24 Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:21AM]

Why do they have the "sense bar" still showing within the app on the Evo.? Oops. Lol.

[CSchmidto Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:41AM]

@Hero24 photoshop fail

[rutter9 Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:32PM]

@CSchmidto

I can't imagine reading a book like this. How many page turns would it translate to?

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4632/snape.png

[Kenvan19 Posted Jul 23rd 2010 12:06AM]

@rutter9 I recently got my fiancee a nook because she loves reading and is always wishing she could carry more books. She loves it but I didn't want to drop another $200 since I don't really use it that much (still prefer a book) so thought I'd give the app a try on my Mytouch 3g Fender Edition and oh, dear god its practically unusable.

I am sure my tiny-screened phone was not their target demographic for this app but still being able to feel like I could use the app would be nice. It runs unphathomably slow (sometimes page turns were upwards of 20 seconds) and anything ePub was cut off on both sides regardless of how I held it. Even on books bought from the BN store barely had a paragraph on the page.

Great concept but its just not really phathomable for older phones. Thanks T-Mobile.

[Saad Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:22AM]

Just tried it on my Galaxy S. Freaking sexy, clean, fast and beats iBooks to the ground, especially on a S-AMOLED. :)

[Mori Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:30AM]

@Saad Retina display is better when it comes to text. Movies and pictures are better on SAMOLED...just saying

[Saad Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:38AM]

@Mori

Actually, I've seen both in front of me and I would say that they are very close in terms of clarity and colors, but I felt that the Galaxy S was fairly better due to the extra screen estate. 3.5 inch takes away from the beauty of the Ratina display (Yes, 0.5 inch does make a difference). Putting both phones 10 inch away from my eyes makes all the pixels fade into oblivion, no matter how much you zoom into text, and if you take the battery life saving the S-AMOLED does, it makes S-AMOLED a winner in every aspect, sorry but don't get caught up into the Apple overhype marketing of 320 bijilion pixels per inch.

[Mori Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:00PM]

@Saad No point talking to you coz you're one of them apple haters.

[Tes Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:10PM]

@Mori

The fact that in all the "tests" of the new screen technologies they had to magnify text several tens of times for you to see how superior the retina display is should tell you how at REGULAR text sizes the advantage isn't so apparent.

[EggoEspada Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:10PM]

@Mori Yea. I personally think Super AMOLED is better, but in terms of text, obviously the iPhone does better even with only a 3.5" screen.
Course, I couldn't use this with a 3.5" screen. But then again, thats just me, others probably would be comfortable with it.

[Saad Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:13PM]

@Mori

Apple hater?? Where did that come from?! I had an iPhone 3G S for the past year and I said it clear that both screens are very close. Where did you see my hate? Or is it wrong to state that a phone is better than iPhone?

Piss off man.

[Mori Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:44PM]

@Saad When you said "don't get caught up into the Apple overhype marketing of 320 bijilion pixels per inch", makes u sound like a hater. Plus people who actually tested both devices said that retina was a lil better when it came to text. Deal with it

[gamerneek Posted Aug 17th 2010 6:17PM]

@Saad iBooks is better visually. UI is better. Same goes for Aldiko on Android, the UI is better than the Nook or Kindle apps

[Shalabi Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:22AM]

You can lend PDFs a lot easier than Nook books. Just sayin'.

[jspenguin Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:23AM]

Since the Nook itself runs Android, what would happen if I ran this app on it?

Would it punch a hole the fabric of spacetime?

[MowDownJoe Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:20PM]

@jspenguin Yo, Dawg, I heard you like eBooks, so I put a Nook on your Nook so you can read while you read.

[Oflife Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:26AM]

This form factor is almost perfect for reading an eBook. Not too small to have to squint, not to large (>5") that you cannot fit it in your pocket. Just like a paperback book!

[defunctgod Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:30AM]

Nice! Now that we have apps for the major storefronts, I hope some pricing battles will begin to appear...

[mauriceh Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:39AM]

OK, so it claims it can "lend" a book.
To WHAT? Only another running Nook, right?

Until I can actually BUY books, they can screw themselves.

[toddjy Posted Jul 25th 2010 5:07PM]

@mauriceh

You buy books from either the online store, or the Nook pc software.

[darthgault Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:42AM]

i remember the olden days of reading books on my iPaq using microsoft reader ... the apps today are much nicer as are the screens.

[FrankDTank Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:47AM]

Androids dont read man, They get plugged in

[MsCG1 Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:48AM]

This nook app beats every other reader app I've ever used, including the vanilla bn reader app for other devices. Hell, the ease of browsing in the store is even better then what I have on my nook. Definitely worth the wait, and bn obviously put high priority on android users.

[toddjy Posted Jul 25th 2010 5:10PM]

@MsCG1

"High priority"? They've had iPad and iPhone specific apps for months. I was getting ready to ditch my Nook.

[MsCG1 Posted Jul 25th 2010 9:02PM]

@toddjy
I was under the impression that the ipad/iphone/bb apps were standard bn reader apps, not the official nook app like we have for android. I used the bn reader app for bb and it is nowhere near as polished and full of features like the android app. But you know, ymmv.

[JaylanPHNX Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:04PM]

Damn! Screwed again by 1.5

[metformin Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:08PM]

@JaylanPHNX

lol ROOT your phone!!!

[rav97 Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:13PM]

It's extremely feature-poor, not only when compared to the excellent B&N reader for iOS, but even compared to Kindle for Android. There's no night reading mode (white on black background), no brightness controls, and line spacing is too narrow for comfortable reading and non-adjustable. On the other hand, ebooks (at least the ones I'm currently interested in) are much cheaper here than on Kindle. For the time being, I'll continue to use Kindle, but I'll keep this Nook app around hoping it improves.

[casoich Posted Jul 22nd 2010 1:11PM]

@rav97 Agree. Decided against it within a minute of using it. I exclusively use white-on-black (which is easier on the eyes with a backlit display), and you couldn't even adjust the Nook's background color from super-white.

I guess you'd be able to get around the no-brightness control with the Android system brightness, but I think the Kindle app may actually take things a step further by shading the white type to gray with its brightness slider.

[Jose Paez Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:22PM]

17 Megabytes! Is B&N crazy? Kindle by comparison is "only" 3.8 MB... I mean, is not like this app has a stored coded inside, it opens up the browser to do the shopping.

[Jose Paez Posted Jul 22nd 2010 1:54PM]

@Jose Paez

And you can't even move it to the SD!... I am seriously hoping for an update soon...

[FrankDTank Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:50PM]

Wow im an iphone user. But man that screen looks marvelous.

[ohnoitsaspider Posted Jul 22nd 2010 7:38PM]

@FrankDTank Yes, but clearly photoshopped on as you can see the bar on the EVO. The screen doesn't actually look like that, infact I bet they just copy and pasted the screenshot from the emulator.

[supermanjason Posted Jul 22nd 2010 1:38PM]

the apps will start getting better with the release of android 2.2 . as most android phones very small amount of memory for apps so devs try to keep them small appealing to a larger amount of people now ith 2.2 you can save your apps to memory cards so android apps will get bigger and better with more power from the update

[10nisman94 Posted Jul 22nd 2010 2:17PM]

The Notion Ink Adam will kick ass. (Nook and Kindle Apps and flash video)