MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
April 25- April 30, 2011 Edition Nook Opens Doors to App Developers
New York, NY/Authorlink News/ April 25, 2011–Barnes & Noble, Inc. recently opened its doors to developer innovation with its NOOK Developer program. The company is delivering new and innovative reading experiences through NOOK Apps, a collection of applications launched for the company’s award-winning NOOK Color Reader’s Tablet. The addition of popular apps and other most requested tablet features to the newly updated NOOK Color add value to the tablet, which sells for $249.
NOOK Apps offer NOOK Color customers a broad collection of popular applications from the world’s best publishers and third-party developers, including Chronicle Books, Condé Nast, Concrete Software, Gameloft, Goodreads, Loud Crow Interactive, my6sense, The National Geographic Society, NAMCO, Rovio, Wordnik and more. NOOK Apps were introduced with the major NOOK Color software update launched today (available at no cost at www.nookcolor.com/update). The update delivers shopping for popular apps, full-featured built-in email, an enhanced Web experience, as well as new ways for adults and children to enjoy rich content. NOOK Color v1.2 includes a platform upgrade to Android OS 2.2/Froyo, along with support for Adobe® AIR® and Adobe Flash® Player.
“We are thrilled to add to our robust eReading ecosystem a differentiated and unique portfolio of high-quality applications, which enrich and extend the reading experience that our customers know and love and keep the whole family entertained and engaged, connected and organized. With an update to the operating system, NOOK Apps, email, an enhanced Web experience and more new, great features and content to enjoy, we have made NOOK Color – already acclaimed as the best reading device on the market – truly the best value tablet on the market for $249,” said Jamie Iannone, President of Digital Products at Barnes & Noble. “The response from the developer and content communities has been terrific, as many great companies are enthusiastic about bringing their strong brands, products and content to NOOK Color and the NOOK Bookstore, and taking advantage of the unique benefits of our open platform and merchandising opportunities.”
NOOK Apps represent a unique opportunity for developers to reach a targeted and passionate audience of millions of Barnes & Noble customers. The company offers marketing and merchandising opportunities for developers through NOOK Color, BN.com’s storefront, and merchandising opportunities to drive discovery and demand in more than 1,300 Barnes & Noble retail and college bookstores.
NOOK Color Reader’s Tablet now has more than 125 high-quality applications optimized for the device in categories including Children, Education & Reference, Entertainment, Games, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle & Interests, News & Weather, Productivity and Tools & Utilities, with more to come. Popular NOOK Apps include the all-new Aces Bubble Popper, Angry Birds, Cheese Plate, Goodreads, Epicurious, Flight Control, GeoBee Challenge, my6sense, NOOK WordOfTheDay(TM), Sandra Boyntons The Going to Bed Book, Uno, and many more.
Since late last year, third-party developers and content providers have been using NOOK Developer tools and resources to develop a wide array of unique applications optimized for NOOK Color’s open eReading platform and the device’s 7-inch color touchscreen. Built on the Android OS, it is fast and easy for third-party developers to deploy existing Android-based apps to NOOK Color’s open eReading platform. Developers can learn more about the tools and resources available to create AIR and native Android applications for NOOK Color on the NOOK Developer portal.
Developers are invited to join and qualify to submit their applications by visiting www.nookdeveloper.com. Unlike other developer programs, there is no program fee for developers to participate in NOOK Developer. Developers who qualify will be able to submit paid and free apps and will receive 70 percent of any paid app purchased by Barnes & Noble customers. Developers also have the option to offer free trials to NOOK Color users.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 705 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 636 college bookstores serving nearly 4 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States.
