Barnes & Noble is wisely hedging its e-reader bets. With the iPad getting its last-minute prepping for presale tomorrow, the company announced that it will offer a free Nook app for Apple’s tablet expected to drop around the iPad’s launch on April 3. The application will give iPad users access to the million + titles of books, newspapers and magazines available from Barnes & Noble’s eBookstore.
The Monday following Super Bowl isn’t really the day to be digging deep into the memory bank, but if you concentrate through the haze, you’ll remember that Barnes and Noble introduced its Nook all the way back in October. It was a hot release of the Christmas season– so hot in fact, that B&N experienced big supply/demand issues and spent the holiday season making announcements and updates about when people who were lucky enough to pre-order would actually receive that slim, brown box on their doorsteps.
Thankfully it’s Christmas Eve, which means there will be no more back and forth with Nook shipping dates. You either get it by today or you’re giving a late gift. Frankly, we’re a little tired of the Nook drama, but it’s the holidays, so we’ll drink a little eggnog and keep it cheerful.
B&N has announced that everyone who pre-ordered a Nook and originally scored a shipment date prior to Christmas will receive their Nook in time for tomorrow’s festivities. So most of you should either have the Nook in hand or should be hearing a knock at the door right… about…… now. Feel free to answer it, we’ll wait.
Good Nook news has been a rarity since the e-reader first hit the scene, but today we finally have some. After pushing delivery dates for Nook preorders well past Christmas, Barnes & Noble has stated that most orders will indeed be shipped in time for the big holiday. For the unlucky folks that don’t receive them by Christmas, $100 gift certificates will be sent along with the late-to-the-party Nook. Given that the Nook only costs $259, an extra $100 should help to take some of the sting out of the late delivery.
As Amazon rakes in Kindle sales, Barnes & Noble continues to struggle with its fledgling Nook e-reader. The Nook looks beautifully designed on the surface, but it’s a surface that many fingers won’t be getting to touch this holiday.
Previously, B&N pushed pre-orders back to the week of January 4 and now they’ve pushed them back to January 11. So maybe you’ll get that e-reader in time for Martin Luther King Day. No explanation was offered as to the new delay, but the Nook certificate is still on the table, promising to provide a little indication of the present to come sometime in the future.
After two years of similar supply struggles, Amazon still has Kindles on hand and appears to be prepared to handle holiday season ‘09. [via Electronista]
It looks like Barnes & Noble has taken a page from Nintendo’s book. It’s still a week before Thanksgiving, holiday shopping hasn’t even gained full steam and reports are that the bookseller has sold out of its highly anticipated, dual-screen Nook e-reader. B&N cites excessive preorders as ravaging its Nook supply.
