T E C H
T A L K
Light reading
Introducing Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, £109, nook.co.uk
the future
,
it can be said, looks bright for digital bookworms.
Amazon's Kindle range has long held the monopoly on the upper
end of the market, but the arrival of this much-talked about
ebook reader should stir things up. The reason? Well, the Nook
outshines the Kindle – quite literally – as its screen can gently
illuminate, making it viable to keep reading in the dark. Like the
Kindle, it features a 15.2cm (6in) display, based on a technology
called E Ink, which doesn’t strain the eyes like the conventional
backlit screen of, say, a tablet; nor does it use as much energy.
The Nook is a solid product with a pleasingly soft, rubberised
finish and it works well. The much-vaunted light emanates from
the top edge of the display, but illuminates the entire screen
evenly and the brightness can be easily adjusted. The screen also
has anti-glare properties, to counteract sunlight or reflections.
In the end, e-readers are judged by the content available for
them. Good news, then, that Barnes & Noble intends to bring
its catalogue of 2.5m digital titles and magazines to the party
for those with a UK-based credit card. Indeed, the company,
newly backed by Microsoft, plans to expand to 10 countries
within a year. Nevertheless, this story might not have a wholly
happy ending for B&N. Its nemesis, Amazon, has just brought
out a new Kindle, the Paperwhite, featuring a subtly illuminated
screen which is higher resolution than that of the Nook – as
did Kobo, a third rival in this bitter love triangle. Both the Kobo
Glo and Kindle's new model went on sale in the UK last month,
priced £100 and £109 respectively. While all three devices have
their own merits, there is a real winner in all this: the public –
especially as these firms duke it out over coming months.
WORDS ALEX PELL
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