AT&T teams up with Barnes & Noble on Android ereader

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AT&T teams up with Barnes & Noble on Android ereader
October 20, 2009 — 3:21pm ET | By Phil Goldstein

AT&T has found its nook in the ereader market.

The company will provide 3G wireless service for Barnes & Noble's new ereader, the Nook, details of which leaked online ahead of its official press unveiling Tuesday afternoon in New York. It is the fourth ereader AT&T has said it will provide wireless connectivity for, joining the likes of Amazon.com's Kindle (the international edition), Sony's Daily Edition device and Plastic Logic's forthcoming ereader.

The Nook is being hyped as a Kindle killer, and certainly does pack an impressive feature set. It has HSPA connectivity and WiFi, runs on Google's Android platform, has an E Ink display and a 3.5-inch color touchscreen LCD display. Both the 3G and WiFi will be free in Barnes & Noble stores. Additionally, the Nook has an MP3 player, 3.5 mm headset jack, 2 GB of internal memory and a microSD slot capable of holding 16 GB cards.

However, perhaps the most impressive feature of the Nook is that users can share ebooks for free via Barnes & Noble software. The software will allow users to lend to and from any iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, PC or Mac, as well as from one Nook to another. The Nook will cost $259, the same as the price of U.S. version of the Kindle, which runs on Sprint Nextel's network. Barnes & Noble will begin pre-orders Tuesday night, and the Nook will begin shipping at the end of November.

AT&T teams up with Barnes & Noble on Android ereader - FierceWireless