Carrying books or eReaders around as we travel can be quite a hassle. Avid readers can now reduce their daily baggage, as Barnes & Noble finally unveils the Nook app for Android device owners. The Android version sure had users waiting for long, considering the application for the iPhone and BlackBerry platforms were available pretty early. Coming back to the Android Version it works on all Android smartphones running on OS 1.5 or higher.
With the Nook app, users can shop for eBooks at the Barnes & Noble’s eBookstore. Here they can search, browse and explore thousands of eBooks consisting of classics, new releases, bestsellers and much more at the eBookstore. Existing Barnes & Noble’s consumers can access all their previously purchased eBooks on the handset. The app instantly syncs users’ library present on BN.com, a Nook eBook reader or other BN eReader-enabled devices.
“Nook for Android is customizable, fun and easy to use and we’re excited to deliver the most-requested version of our free eReading software to the growing number of mobile customers using Android-based devices,” asserted Douglas Gottlieb, Vice President, Digital Products for Barnes & Noble.com. “Android customers can enjoy the great Nook eReading experience on their mobile device, including access to our vast digital catalog and their personal B&N digital library at their fingertips. And, of course, Android users can now enjoy Barnes & Noble’s unique eBook lending feature to share their favorite eBooks with friends.”
According to the company, the Nook app on Android is the first to be released with a Nook-centric branding. It further goes on to say that this application is branded under the Nook portfolio, which also includes Nook Wi-Fi and Nook 3G eBook readers along with the Nookstudy. The future plans of the company stores an updated Nook for the BlackBerry, the iPhone and others. With this offering Barnes & Noble has extended its lineup of free eReader softwares. The company claims that the application is the ‘only Android eReader application offering the ability to share eBooks with friends’.
Gottlieb further elucidated saying, “With Nook for Android, and the other renamed software to follow, customers can also easily recognize and have confidence in Barnes & Noble’s Nook brand to provide them with a fun and easy-to-use eReading experience on any device of their choosing.”
The LendMe technology embedded in the app enables users to share eligible eBooks with their friends. Rented out for 14 days, these digital titles can be read on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or the Nook eBook Reader, which are loaded with the free BN eReader software. The Android app can be individualized according to the reader by customizing the font from one of the eight available types and choosing from five font sizes. Reading can be optimized by choosing from the portrait or landscape mode and the screen orientation can also be locked by users.
The experience is further augmented with graphical page turns, the simple-to-operate navigation bar and bookmarks. Users will be reading in an ePub format, also with the Library List view they can find and sort eBooks using keywords like title, author or recent reads plus view the cover art. They may even check out product details such as the synopsis and additional books written by the author of the selected eBook.
eBooks can be read concurrently on all devices which feature the software like previously announced eBook readers, NOOK eBook Readers. Plus they can be accessed on computing and mobile gadgets such as BlackBerry and HTC HD2 smartphones, HP computers, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. To further augment this experience users can sync the last page read of the eBook they were reading on the handset with all the other software enabled devices.
After signing up on the BN.com for a new account as users download the application, they will find three Classic eBooks namely Pride & Prejudice, Dracula and Little Women, plus samples from two recent bestsellers. The Nook application can be downloaded from bn.com/nookforandroid for Android powered devices.