Barnes & Noble NOOK For Android App Launches

Do you own a NOOK e-reader from Barnes & Noble? Do you wish you did? If you're in that second camp, and you own an Android phone using v1.6 or above, your dream has come true. For those who own smartphones and aren't interested in buying an actual e-reader in order to read digital books on, both Amazon and B&N are vying for business from e-book sales. In order to expand that portion of their businesses to as many consumers as possible, both companies have established apps on Android that allow consumers to access titles just like would if you owned the e-reader itself.

B&N is follwing Amazon's app from a few weeks back, this week introducing NOOK for Android. The app can now be downloaded free of charge onto all Android 1.6+ devices, which enables Android users to experience the same e-reading experience as actual NOOK owners. Well, except for on a much smaller screen of course. There's also a great level of integration here between Android any other NOOK platforms; any customer’s personal Barnes & Noble eBook library – purchased on a NOOK eBook Reader, online at BN.com or on another BN eReader-enabled device – will easily sync to their device in seconds so their library goes wherever they go.

Even the Android version supports NOOK eLending, which allows users to give any e-book they have to someone for up to 2 weeks to borrow, just as if it were a physical book. Not bad for free, huh? Of course, the e-books themselves aren't free, but alas...

Key features available in NOOK for Android include:

• Shop Barnes & Noble’s vast eBookstore: Search, explore and browse through more than one million digital titles at www.bn.com/ebooks directly by touching Shop Books from the Library. There are more than a half-million free eBooks available and free samples are offered for all eBooks. Learn more about titles from thousands of editorial and customer reviews. Pick a current bestseller, a classic or anything in between and download it wirelessly in seconds.
• Access your personal B&N digital library: All eBooks purchased through the Barnes & Noble eBookstore sync in seconds and are ready to read in your Library.
• Lend to friends: NOOK for Android is the only Android eReading app that offers eBook sharing with friends.
• Read your way: Customize the eReading experience by choosing from eight font types and five sizes, read in landscape or portrait modes and lock the screen orientation.
• Enjoy the read: The fun and immersive experience offers animated or sliding page turns, a navigation scroll bar, bookmarks and more.
• Easy access to your content: Using the Library List view, see the cover art, sort and filter your eBooks by author, title or recent reads. Access rich product details for the selected eBook, including the synopsis and more books from that author.
• Read across multiple devices: Android users can now complement their eReading experiences with Barnes & Noble’s other eReader experiences such as NOOK eBook Readers, previously announced eBook readers powered by the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, and a variety of other computing and mobile devices, including iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry^® and HTC HD2^™ smartphones, HP computers, PC and Mac^®.
• Pick up where you left off: Sync the last page read of the last eBook opened on an Android device with BN eReader (soon to be renamed NOOK) software-enabled devices including PC and iPad. Coming soon, both will sync with NOOK for iPhone and more devices to follow.
• Follows the standard: Read eBooks formatted in ePub, quickly becoming the industry standard.

Those signing up for a new BN.com account when downloading the new application, will also find three Barnes & Noble Classics Series eBooks – Dracula, Little Women and Pride & Prejudice – in their libraries, along with samples of two current bestselling eBooks.