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Barnes and Noble eReader app updated
I've been watching the e-reader competition with great interest lately -- after the iPad entered the market with such a splash, Amazon and Barnes & Noble have been trying to position their own devices in a place where they'll at least be profitable. But at the same time, those apparent iPad competitors have also been updating their own App Store apps. Amazon updated the Kindle app a little while back, and now Barnes and Noble has updated its own iPad app, including support for multiple orientations and brightness control, along with a few other bugfixes and features. As I said before, I like the precedent here -- even if these companies don't match up with Apple on the hardware, this update does a lot to bring the B&N eReader in line with iBooks. Of course this gives us iPad users more options -- even if we don't own a Kindle or a Nook, we've still got the chance to use those services. I would like to see a little more progress made with compatibility -- it's annoying to buy a book on one platform and not be able to read it on any other. But I guess that's the trade-off for having options -- Amazon and B&N will only keep up their app development while the money is coming in from their respective bookstores.
TUAW's Daily App: Barnes & Noble eReader
"But Mike," I can hear you say,"I've already got iBooks on my iPad -- why would I want to download another eReader?" Try free books for an answer. Barnes and Noble is holding a promotion this month: every week, you can show up in their retail stores, and if you show someone on staff that you've got their B&N eReader app on your mobile device, they'll give you a code for a free eBook. This week, they're giving away Lee Child's One Shot, and next week it's Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg. Sure, neither of those are probably your favorite novel, but if you're just looking for something to read, they definitely seem like something you can bring to the beach this summer. If you've already paid for a few reads in iBooks, that's fine -- read away. But if, like me, you're still not quite sure how to jump into the eBook thing (I kind of still like turning paper pages), a few free eBooks to read might help you get a handle on the experience. Since the Barnes & Noble app is free, the only cost is a quick stop by a bookstore. Read on!
