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Barnes & Noble eReader app for iPad launches
May 27, 2010 | 1:43 am
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By Chris Meadows
Alerted by a comment on my review of the eReader apps for iPhone, I checked the app store and found the Barnes & Noble iPad eReader ready to download. (CNet also has a report on it.) I don’t have time for a lengthy review right now—I was on my way into bed—but my early look isn’t too encouraging.
It’s basically a carbon copy of the Kindle app, throwing in some features from iBooks such as showing “facing pages” (see below). And it seems to be only loadable from the Barnes & Noble store—using a “bnereaderipad://” link, as someone noticed when B&N changed their page early, simply opens up your library—it doesn’t load the book that the link points to.
I’m going to email Barnes & Noble’s customer support and ask how to load pre-existing eReader books, but I’m not exactly holding my breath for a positive outcome. I suspect it’s just the same as with Amazon and Mobipocket: they’d prefer people forget about the old company and focus on the new.
Like I’ve said, eReader and Fictionwise are very likely on the way out.
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Comments:
I already contacted them about loading purchases from Fictionwise/eReader, their response was they have no plans to support the loading of ebooks from either sites.
The tone of the email was curt and rather hostile. I think they were getting lots of emails regarding this.
It’s worth noting that the B&N desktop app had that same ability to load preexisting books removed several months ago with version 2.0 of the program.
I got a response to my customer service email saying that the books would have to be loaded “through iTunes”. Does this mean it can take third-party books via the sync Apps screen sharing section? Will have to try it.
Gizmodo seems to really like it. http://tinyurl.com/32e9nhk — i haven’t checked it out yet myself.
Not hugely impressed. (It crashed just loading its own help “book”).
What format does it support? Something that’s ePub + eReader DRM ?
I was assuming the inability to sideload eReader books read pdb (eReader) formatted books was because they removed support for that format ?
At one point there was a message on the old FIctionwise mailing list saying that they (Fictionwise) was moving towards such a format (their DRM + epub) so it isn’t a total surprise.
I don’t have problems with B&N as a bookstore, though they’ve always (in my decades of experience with them) seemed more book oriented and not really customer oriented. And they haven’t changed just because they are now doing eBooks.