Barnes & Noble has launched a version of its eBook reader for the Apple iPad. The company already has an iPhone and iPod touch app, as well as the recently launched Nook dedicated eBook reader. But the iPad app is set to go head to head with Apple’s iBooks.
There’s definitely room for more than one digital book store and reader on the iPad and other mobile devices — after all, there’s room for multiple book stores in real life. The problem is that while you can walk into any bricks and mortar store and buy a hardcover book that you can take with you and read wherever and whenever you want, the digital book ecosystem tends to be a little different. If you purchase a title using iBooks, you can’t read it in the Barnes & Noble eBook software on your iPad. And of course, you can’t read it on your Amazon Kindle or Google Android phone.
Possibly one of the best solutions to this is for companies like Amazon, Apple, and Barnes & Noble to make their software available on as many devices as possible. And that appears to be what they’re doing. Amazon’s Kindle software is already available for the PC, iPad, BlackBerry or Kindle
The Barnes & Noble iPad app lets users download most of the content available on a Nook to an iPad — with the exception of some newspapers. And if you’ve purchased a title on another device, it will be available on the iPad.
Users can purchase books from the iPad — although you’ll have to use the web browser to complete the purchase. And like the Nook, the iPad has a LendMe feature which lets you share eBooks with friends for up to 14 days.
The Barnes & Noble eReader for the iPad is available as a free download from the App Store.
