E-Readers Gaining Cult Following As Pricey Tablets Hit Stores

Barnes & Noble didn’t respond by our deadline to questions about a report from Digitimes that the company has taken delivery of nearly three million Nook Color devices from its Taiwan-based production source, Inventec, since the e-reader was introduced last fall. Sales of Nook Color, the report said, topped one million units in Q4 2010 and reached between 600,000 and 700,000 units during the first two months of 2011. The report said Nook Color has assumed more than half of “iPad-like market” in the U.S.

Viral promotion of the device as a low-cost alternative to a tablet could spur more growth. The Nook Color received widespread media attention Sunday when a report on National Public Radio enlightened listeners about how they could convert e-readers, including Amazon’s Kindle and the Nook Color, to “cheap Internet on the go” using unauthorized software downloads. The tradeoff with using Google access on the Kindle is that users have to use directional buttons to navigate the screen. Nook Color, by contrast, has a touchscreen and a stripped-down Android operating system, which a college student in Omaha, Neb., claims to have been able to upgrade to full Android status with a free download that can be installed using a microSD card. He shows Nook Color owners how to hack the Nook Color in a YouTube clip.

Barnes & Noble last week refused to say (CED March 28 p5) when its Android firmware upgrade, or an upgrade to Adobe Flash, would be available to users other than “spring,” although a shopping page on the HSN website advised shoppers the Android firmware upgrade -- and its pathway to additional apps -- would be available in April. An onslaught of other tablets, promised at CES, is on the way to stores now. Retailers are currently selling the Motorola Xoom tablet and ones from BlackBerry and Dell are on pre-order, all coming in at double or more the price of the Kindle and Nook Color. HP and Toshiba also have devices nearing the pipeline and Samsung has promised more Galaxy tabs as well.

Meanwhile, Amazon.com announced it has exclusive e-book rights to 91 titles from English writer Catherine Cookson. Amazon said the collection includes the majority of Cookson’s full-length novels, some of which are out of print. The e-books sell from $1.50-$5.99 and can be downloaded by Kindle and Kindle app customers.