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Barnes & Noble eReader may run Android

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The folks at Gizmodo are saying that the upcoming eReader from Barnes & Noble will run Android. If that’s true, I’ll be thrilled. As a ‘power user’ at minimum, I always want my electronics devices to be more than just appliances. I want them to be computers, that can be modified and updated and hacked. Having the OS be Android will open up the possibilities for the eReader to have a long and useful life that doesn’t absolutely depend on just being an eReader. Kudos B&N. This will also put Android to the test as more that just a cell phone OS.

Barnes & Noble launches e-bookstore

Books, Music and Movies / By /

In their ongoing quest to stay competitive with Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble acquired e-book retailer Fictionwise a few months ago and is now offering e-book downloads and a free reader that works on PCs, Macs, iPhones and Blackberrys.

Barnes & Noble also struck a deal to offer the 500,000 public domain books that Google scanned and has available on Google Books. Just one problem – I can’t seem to find any ‘free’ e-books on BN.com’s e-book section. Perhaps I didn’t look hard enough. But then again, I shouldn’t need to. This should be used as a loss leader. Oh well, I’ll just peruse Google Books if I want to read a free classic.

And what about a e-reader? BN is working with manufacturer Plastic Logic that is releasing a device in 2010 for which BN will launch a e-bookstore to provide content for that device. Of course, e-books from BN.com don’t work on Sony’s device or Amazon’s Kindle.

*sigh* Competition is great and all, but why oh why don’t companies just save themselves and consumers the money and trouble and start out with standards?

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