Oct 19th update: WSJ say they’ve seen an ad for the Barnes & Noble Nook eReader – it will match the Kindle’s $259 price.
They have also confirmed that there will be a lending feature and dual screens.
Gizmodo has an amazing scoop – actual images of the Barnes and Noble Nook eReader. A picture (courtesy them) -
Two Screens - so its color and eInk.
Barnes and Noble Nook eReader – The Details
These are the details -
- It’ll be called Athena – presumably after the Greek goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy and a whole lot more.
- It’ll be called Nook because Athena sounded too good.
- Allows lending of eBooks to your friend (perhaps friends).
- $259 Price to match Kindle US.
- eInk screen for reading – 800 by 600 pixel resolution.
- LCD multi-touch screen for keyboard, browsing through book covers and more. 480 by 144 pixels and 150 dpi.
- Previous and Next page buttons – two sets which is good.
- Buttons for Search, Home, BN store, Back.
- It has social networking with a dedicated Profile Button.
- LCD is inactive while reading.
- It was planned to be sold for less than the Kindle when the Kindle was $299.
The Killer Feature
Gizmodo again talk about lending of books – although they say it might be cut before use.
Also, publishing of excerpts to Facebook and Twitter might also make it in.
Kindle, Nook – How do they compare?
These are just initial thoughts – It’s probably only on the 20th that we’ll get the full picture and be able to compare the Kindle with the Athena.
- Will have to wait for BN book prices to see who wins on Book Prices.
- BN Athena, despite the dual screens, is $259. Athena probably wins here.
- Athena wins on browsing because of the cool flow through covers feature.
- Kindle wins on Read To Me.
- Kindle probably wins on Free Internet as there’s no way any carrier is going to agree to Free Internet now. It certainly seems that way.
- International – No idea until the 20th.
- Ease of Use – The dual screens instantly make things complicated. At the same time the multi-touch LCD probably refreshes super fast. Will have to wait and see.
If Athena has lending then it becomes a scary competitor.
B&N Nook Strategy to take on the Kindle
There are a few key elements -
- Match the low $259 price – Very competitive and a smart decision.
- Sharing and Lending. If it makes the cut.
- The profile button and rumors of social networking features.
- Rumors (from Gizmodo) that BN published books will be super cheap.
- Direct Link to 1 million Google Books from the device.
- Sell the device cheap and make money on books. Which would probably mean books priced higher than $9.99.
- Two screens to get benefit of fast browsing and buying and multi-touch while keeping eInk readability.
Not sure about the Dual Screen – Execution would determine whether B&N Athena manages to integrate the two into a seamless experience.
Why Athena to take on Kindle? Note: No longer Valid
It’s interesting (if Athena is indeed the name of the new Barnes & Noble eReader) -
- Goddess of Wisdom – makes sense as books are wisdom.
- Goddess of War and Strategy – B&N certainly need strategy after their struggles and perhaps it’s a war cry against Amazon.
- Prophecy that offspring of Zeus and Methis (which is what Athena is) would be greater than Zeus – Does B&N hope Athena and eBooks become bigger than B&N?
- Athena guided heroes on a lot of quests -
Perseus on his quest to behead Medusa.
Heracles to skin the Nimean Lion.
Odysseus on his journeys.
B&N aim to provide wisdom to readers and to wage war on the Amazon Kindle and Athena captures both. As opposed to Gizmodo who thought the name was terrible the name fits and in some ways is perfect for a company fighting for its life.
Update: Gizmodo was right – The name is Nook and it’s terrible.
Information courtesy Wikipedia.
Kindle Vs Nook is great for reading - We now have an exciting new competitor and the eReader space gets some innovation.
Filed under: eBook Reader Devices Tagged: | barnes and noble athena, kindle vs athena
It’s not called Athena!
[...] Kindle Review does a side-by-side comparison of the Athena and the Kindle, which is inconclusive, since so many features of the Athena are as [...]
Thanks B&N Employee. Would you care to provide some official id or some other means to confirm you really are from B&N and the name really isn’t Athena?
The pictures from gizmodo have the main picture with the name as eBook and the third picture as Athena.
So it’s probably one of the two. Perhaps Athena is the internal code name and they’ve changed it since.
It would also help if you let us know the real name.
[...] Kindle vs Athena – Barnes & Noble Athena eReader leaked Gizmodo has an amazing scoop – actual images of the Barnes and Noble Athena eReader. A picture (courtesy them) [...] [...]
[...] blog IReadReview.com has compared the two. The best POSSIBLE thing about the Athena is that you could theoretically LEND [...]
[...] the Athena and the Alex. Both Athena, developed by Barnes and Noble, and Alex, from Spring Design, offer dual [...]
[...] not much left for the Press Conference. The wonders of the Internet . My Thoughts on Kindle Vs Nook soon (that’s an old post). Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Sony PRS-505 [...]
Can you read existing ebooks on either of these devices. I have about 300 ebooks curremtly on my computer and do not want to have to purchase them new.
Bernard, what format are they in?
do they have DRM on them? What store did you buy them from?
I have them in .Txt as well as .pdf.. I can basically convert them into any format really. Its just whether the device will display them . At the moment I read them through my laptop which is big and heavy. I am hoping I can just connect up a data cable and port them across.
PDF can be converted using Calibre or MobiPocket – check my kindle pdf conversion post for a video walkthough.
Txt works without conversion on the Kindle.
Yes, you can transfer the files via USB to the Documents folder on your Kindle.
Thx
I was looking at both the Kindle and the Nook last night. My decision was made to get the kindle and revisit the ebook wars in a few years.
My reasons for choosing the Kindle was I researched the first 4 books I would buy.
One was 5 dollars more for the B&N nook ebook version. The hardcopy book version also started out 5 dollars more… Title was the Prodigal God by Tim Keller.
Two were not available from B&N but the kindle version was on amazon.com.
Not sure if I believe there are more titles for the nook as they start to engage in the warfare and supremacy in the ebook market.
Buy what you want now and revisit this again in 5 years.
I also find it weird the nook would have both wifi and G3 wireless. G3 wireless should override the need for wifi.
I think the real reason is AT&T does not give G3 everywhere in the US so wifi is your backup. Its in the small print on the nook about the AT&T coverage.
So my decision was to buy kindle now and revisit this again in about 3 years.
[...] lanseres og går stadig rykter om en rekke nye lesebrett om dagen. Alt fra kjente aktører som Barnes & Nobles til mer ukjente aktører er på vei inn i ebok- og lesebrettmarkedet. Her finner du en liste over [...]
I just received the nook and very disappointed at the negative comments about nook. I can’t open the nook because it’s going to be a gift. Now I am doubting should I give this gift, because that person also owns a kindle, it would such a downer for the slow speed despite the touch and color screen.
Carmen – that’s a tough decision.
You can hope for the software upgrades (promised in January) and them improving the speed.
You could also use the 14 day return period – However, if the person already has a Kindle what would you get them instead?
I think the person will appreciate having both a Kindle and a Nook – The kindle might edge the Nook – however, the Nook does have a few advantages i.e. 1 hr free browsing of a book in B&N store, ability to check out library books.
The combination of Nook and Kindle is better than just Kindle.