Chart: How the Nook stacks up in the e-reader race

The Nook, Barnes & Noble’s new ereader, has upped the ante. With a small, 3.5-inch LCD screen in the lower quadrant, the Nook adds touch capabilities that the Kindle definitely does not have.

So who will win the ereader race? While no one in particular has to “win” the race, it’s abundantly clear that Amazon has a head start. B&N was late with their readers, starting with a Kindle-like IREX and ending up with an odd duck that uses e-ink for text display but also adds a bit of UI richness with the color LCD. The specs promise an interesting experience and it’s especially nice to hear that the device will last for 10 days with wireless off, a bit longer than any of the Kindle family in practice although, in theory, any member can hit the 14 day mark.

The real value in these bookstore-backed ereaders is discovery and shopping. Sony’s offerings, for example, lost quite a bit of ground even though they were first to market. A vibrant and wide-ranging bookstore is key to an ereaders success which is what makes the Nook quite interesting.

Another interesting tidbit – the Nook, because it’s built on Android, should run Android apps natively, turning the Nook into more of a computing device than a standalone reader.

No one has to lose in this race. However, when it comes to standards and potential sales Amazon may have to change its attiutude towards sharing in order to beat the Nook’s “lending” functionality which allows users to “give” their books to other Nook users outside of their immediate circle.

I’m just glad to see a little competition. Amazon will be the better for it and B&N seems to know what people like.


Device	Kindle	Kindle DX	B&N Nook	Sony Reader Daily Edition	IREX DR800SG
Price	$259	$489	$259	$399	$399
Screen Size	6 inches	9.7 inches	3.5 inch LCD/6 inch epaper	7 inches	8.1 inches
Touch Screen	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rotating Screen	No	Yes	TK	Yes	Yes
Storage	2GB not expandable	4GB not expandable	2GB Expandable up to 16GB	2GB expandable via Memory Stick and SD	No on-board memory, comes with 2GB SD card
Wireless	AT&T	Sprint	AT&T 3G and Wi-Fi	AT&T	Verizon Gobi chipset for worldwide use
Bookstore	Amazon	Amazon	Barnes & Noble	Sony eBookstore	Barnes & Noble
Content Availability	350,000+ books newspaper, magazine, blog subscriptions	350,000+ books newspaper, magazine, blog subscriptions	750,000+ books “Users can purchase books, newspapers or magazines from a wide variety of sources”* *not available over 3G unless purchased through built-in bookstore	100,000+ books One million public domain books via Google* Participating local library rentals* *not available over 3G	750,000+ books “Users can purchase books, newspapers or magazines from a wide variety of sources”* *not available over 3G unless purchased through built-in bookstore
Natively Supported Formats	Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible, MP3, MOBI, PRC	Kindle (AZW), PDF, TXT, Audible, MP3, MOBI, PRC	ePub, “multiple DRM solutions,” PDF	ePub, PDF, JPEG, BBeB, RTF, TXT	ePub, “multiple DRM solutions”
Formats Supported via Conversion	PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP	HTML, DOC, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP	Word, more to come	DOC, HTML, “other text file formats”	Not sure yet, will update when more info is available
Web Browser	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Other Features (lists may be incomplete)	Bookmarks, annotations, dictionary, Wikipedia, search, audiobooks, iPhone sync	Bookmarks, annotations, dictionary, Wikipedia, search, audiobooks, iPhone sync	Dictionary	Highlighting, annotation, dictionary, handwritten notes with included stylus	Bookmarks, search, included stylus, “users will have the ability to download content to the device while traveling abroad next year”
Available	Now	Now	Nov 30 ‘09	December ‘09	October ‘09 (Europe in mid-2010)