Barnes and Noble (BN) staged a special invitation only red carpet event Tuesday to unveil their new Nook Simple Touch eReader. The touch screen eBook reader was designed to provide a low cost solution for those consumers looking for an efficient eReading experience that did not want to spend several hundred dollars on a color eBook reader or Tablet PC. William Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of BN, explained that there are plenty of eBook readers who just want a “comfortable reading experience” and Wifi connectivity.
Priced at $139 to match and directly compete with the $139 6 inch Amazon Kindle Wifi eReader, the 6 inch Nook Simple Touch consists of a touch-enabled E-ink display that allows for shopping and eReading in a simple, straightforward manner. Lynch says that the simplistic, eReader-only design of the Nook Simple Touch allows for a thinner, lighter model with two months of battery life on a single charge. He said that BN was attempting to make the “easiest-to-use, most optimized, dedicated reading device ever created” and they succeeded with the Nook Simple Touch.
35% lighter and 15% thinner than the original Nook, this skinny model is barely thicker than a pencil, and weighs only 7.48 ounces. This new Nook has an onboard dictionary, allows highlighting, has adjustable font sizes and styles, and has a “search in book” features as well. BN limited the Nook Simple Touch to 2 GB of storage (about 1,000 books), but added a microSD slot for expansion up to 32 GB.
The Nook Simple Touch has no 3G or 4G connectivity, but does offer free Wifi access at BN stores and AT&T Hotspots. BN offers access to over 2 million eBooks at its Nook Bookstore, and also newspaper and magazine subscriptions sent to the Nook Simple Touch every day. And Nook and Nook Simple Touch owners can even lend and borrow books back and forth for up to two weeks. The Nook Simple Touch 6 inch touchscreen eReader ships June 10, and pre-orders are available now. Check back here for an in-depth review as soon as it is released.
