Say what? Rumor has it that the Barnes & Noble e-book reader that will be competing with the Amazon.com Kindle will be powered by Google Android. The rumor was started by a source over at Gizmodo. The source apparently works for the mobile apps division over at B&N. Although a colored version of an e-book reader with applications sounds very appealing, I’m going to take this rumor with a grain of salt.
iRex Technologies, Verizon, and Best Buy have made a partnership. Best Buy will sell the iRex DR800SG in their stores with unlimited Verizon 3G data speeds. The DR800SG will cost $399 and have an 8.1″ touchscreen.
E-books will be downloaded from the Barnes & Noble online store. The e-bookstore also has 1,100 newspapers from Newspaper Direct. The 3G connection is powered by Qualcomm Gobi radio technology. Best Buy will be selling the DR800SG next month. The e-book reader also comes with a stylus as pictured above.
Dutch company IREX Technologies and Barnes & Noble have made an alliance. IREX is the second e-book reader company to have partnered with Barnes & Noble with Plastic Logic being the first. Plastic Logic plans to launch an e-book reader next year itself.
IREX said that their partnership with Barnes & Noble will not be exclusive. IREX is already selling e-book readers in Europe, but not yet in the U.S. Irex’s e-book reader will have an 8.1″ touch screen and 3G wireless connection.
“We will change the dynamics of the consumer market – users want to easily purchase content from a variety of sources and we allow them to read it on an IREX eReader as well as other devices,” stated Irex North American CEO Kevin Hamilton.
Tonight, Barnes & Noble launched its e-book store. The store carries over 700,000 titles. eBooks can be purchased and read through the iPhone, BlackBerry, or a desktop PC. According to Barnes & Noble, their e-book store is the world’s largest. The store offers premium titles as well as free public domain titles.
Barnes & Noble also announced a partnership with Plastic Logic, a company developing a Kindle competitor.
The books it sells will not be compatible with the Kindle.
The company ditched its previous digital book efforts nearly six years ago because of lackluster sales. Now it’s trying to play catch-up with Amazon.
