Barnes & Noble Reader Gains Momentum

BusinessWeek

For a device that is yet to be released to the market, Barnes and Noble’s e-book reader is certainly getting a lot of thumbs up from industry experts. B&N’s e-book reader is roughly the same size as Kindle 2.0, but it comes with an innovative control interface that lets readers browse through content more conveniently. So unlike Sony Reader and Kindle, you won’t need physical keys to be able to go through your content on your reader. Considering the fact that the device was designed by Robert Brunner’s design team, it’s no wonder it has a bit of Apple feel to it. So as far as the design is concerned, B&N is something to look forward to.

B&N’s e-book reader is more interesting than some of the other upcoming readers due to the fact that it has the backing of B&N’s physical stores. The content should not be an issue if you decide to invest in a B&N reader instead of a Kindle. But it’s still not known how much B&N will charge for e-books.  Several sources have indicated that B&N is planning to go to a price war with Amazon. Athena is expected to be priced competitively, and so are the e-books. Some have even claimed that B&N is working on a lend/share program that lets you share your content with others. That is something Amazon Kindle doesn’t handle too well, so if the story is true, it’d an exciting differentiation factor for Athena. 

Overall, it’s hard to read too much into Athena rumors. Amazon did probably catch B&N off guard with yet another price drop, and the company still has room for yet another one in a few months. Let’s not forget that Amazon Kindle DX can use a price drop as well, so Amazon has a few ways to keep its momentum going till the release of Kindle 3.0 next year. Athena is a very interesting e-book reader and seems like a decent effort by B&N to challenge Amazon in the e-book market. But it’s hard to tell at this point what the business strategy will be and how it will fare against Amazon Kindle’s business model. The good news is when these companies compete, consumers usually end up winning.

Your take: is Athena’s LCD touchscreen a deal maker for you?