NOOK Media LLC, a subsidiary of
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS),
a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products,
today announced the highly anticipated NOOK for Windows 8 app, available
to Windows 8 PC and tablet customers through the Windows Store. The free
app combines NOOK’s award-winning reading experience with shopping
directly from the app, so customers can discover, explore and read a
massive selection of books, magazines, newspapers and comics from any
Windows 8 tablet or PC. With live tiles, NOOK for Windows 8 customers
can easily get right back to their last read title, be alerted to the
arrival of new issues of their magazines and newspapers, or even pin a
favorite book or magazine to the Windows 8 Start screen. NOOK for
Windows 8 includes NOOK’s signature new “paper” user interface and
all-new shopping experiences including innovative NOOK Channels
™.
“This new NOOK for Windows 8 reading app is the first digital product
launch under the recently announced strategic partnership between
Microsoft and Barnes & Noble,” says Jamie Iannone, President of Digital
Products at NOOK Media LLC. “Our intent was to create a great digital
reading and content buying experience for millions of users on Windows
8, and by working closely with Microsoft on the app we’ve accomplished
that.”
“NOOK delivers a comprehensive digital reading experience in a Windows
Store app. Barnes & Noble took advantage of the new Windows user
interface to combine an immersive reading experience with the ability to
easily browse, search and purchase from their extensive content catalog.
As consumers continue to embrace digital reading, the NOOK app is a
strong addition to the Windows 8 experience,” says John Richards, senior
director of Windows App Marketing for Microsoft Corp.
A Growing and Diverse Digital Catalog: The fully integrated NOOK
Store
™ offers NOOK for Windows 8 customers access to one of
the world’s largest digital content collections featuring:
-
More than 3 million books including bestsellers, new releases,
classics and more
-
The largest digital collection of the top 100 bestselling magazines
available for both digital subscriptions and single copy sale, plus a
large selection of leading daily and weekly newspapers
-
A vast and growing collection of full-color comics, graphic novels and
kids’ comics
Avid readers can sample NOOK Books
™ for free and download
content virtually instantly without ever leaving the NOOK for Windows 8
app.
Award-Winning Digital Reading Experience: Consistent with the
excellent digital reading experience found on NOOK tablets and Readers,
NOOK for Windows 8 customers will enjoy a multitude of tools for both
reading and finding their next great read. Customers can easily
personalize the reading experience by choosing from a selection of
crystal-clear and razor-sharp fonts available in various styles and
sizes, quickly navigate to different pages or chapters, add bookmarks,
and more.
Easy to Use Interface: Offering intuitive digital reading and
content discovery, NOOK for Windows 8 is NOOK’s first free Reading app
to be designed with a “paper” interface created to minimize distractions
and encourage deep content interaction and enjoyment. Reflecting a set
of books and magazines laid out on the coffee table at home, the core
layout of each customer’s “Daily Shelf” lets them easily find their
latest read or a new issue of their favorite magazine or newspaper.
Customers can easily navigate through this interface on a wide range of
Windows 8 tablets using the fast and fluid Windows 8 touch experience.
Seamless Shopping and Reading: Elevating the shopping experience
to new digital heights, NOOK for Windows 8 customers can browse over 3
million books, magazines, and newspapers through NOOK’s expansive
digital content catalog, learn more about the book (including details
and reviews) right from within the app, and tap to purchase and begin
reading in seconds. And because the shopping experience is integrated
into the app, there’s no need to launch an external browser or visit a
Web page to download or complete a purchase.
Unparalleled, Curated Recommendations: NOOK for Windows 8 also
delivers a new level of personal shopping to the browsing and reading
experience through new NOOK Channels
™, a pioneering
recommendation system that combines the knowledge of Barnes & Noble’s
booksellers with advanced algorithmic technology to create a curated
discovery experience targeted specifically to each individual’s
interests and sensibilities. Generating a rich stream of content that
includes everything from the latest bestsellers as well as backlist gems
and offbeat treasures, customers can browse and shop Channels that will
expand their passions for the authors, characters and subjects they
love, from Paranormal Romance, War Stories, and Books to Talk About to
Jane Austen & Heirs, The New Classics, History by Plot and Books Every
Kid Should Know.
Updates Streamed Instantly to the Start Screen: NOOK for Windows
8 features live tile image integration that delivers real-time updates
right on the device’s Start screen, including the customer’s current
read, specific progress within a book or magazine, latest periodicals or
pre-ordered titles recently delivered to customers’ Library, and more.
Access Reading Content Anywhere: Like all free NOOK Reading apps,
purchased content is safely stored through NOOK
® Cloud,
making it easy for customers to access digital books, magazines and more
wherever they go. Using NOOK Sync
™ technology, NOOK for
Windows 8 automatically syncs a customer’s last page read across all of
their devices. Start reading a magazine on a Windows 8 PC or tablet and
seamlessly dive back in on a NOOK device or smartphone to keep reading
virtually anytime, anywhere – all without losing the page.
NOOK for Windows 8 is now available to download for free in the Windows
Store on all Windows 8 PCs and tablets. Customers can learn more about
NOOK for Windows 8 at
www.nook.com/nookforwindows8.
About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading
retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company
operates 689 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the
Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (
www.bn.com).
Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital
reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers
award-winning NOOK
® products and an expansive collection of
digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store
™
(
www.nook.com),
while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 667 bookstores
serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and
universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is proud to be
named a J.D. Power and Associated 2012 Customer Service Champion and is
only one of 50 U.S. companies so named. Barnes & Noble.com is ranked the
number one online retailer in customer satisfaction in the book, music
and video category and a Top 10 online retailer overall in customer
satisfaction according to ForeSee E-Retail Satisfaction Index (Spring
Top 100 Edition).
General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the
Internet by visiting the company's corporate website:
www.barnesandnobleinc.com.
NOOK
®, NOOK Store
™, NOOK Book
™, NOOK
Magazine
™, NOOK Newspaper
™, NOOK Reading Apps
™,
NOOK Channels
™, NOOK
® for Windows 8, NOOK Sync
™,
and Read What You Love. Anywhere You Like
™ are trademarks of
Barnes & Noble, Inc. Other trademarks referenced in this release are the
property of their respective owners.
Follow Barnes & Noble on Twitter (
www.bn.com/twitter),
Facebook (
www.facebook.com/barnesandnoble)
and YouTube (
www.youtube.com/user/bnstudio).
About NOOK Media LLC
NOOK reading and entertainment products make it easy to read what you
love, anywhere you like
™ with a fun, easy-to-use and
immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access
to the expansive NOOK Store
™ of more than 3 million digital
books, plus periodicals, comics, apps, movies and TV shows, and the
ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through
free NOOK Reading Apps
™ and NOOK Video apps, available at
www.nook.com/freenookapps.
NOOK owners receive Always Free NOOK Support in any of Barnes & Noble’s
nearly 700 bookstores. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and
online at
www.nook.com,
as well as leading retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and
many others. NOOK products will also soon be available in the United
Kingdom through
www.nook.co.uk and leading
retailers.
For more information on NOOK, follow us on
www.twitter.com/nookBN
or
www.twitter.com/nook_UK
and
www.facebook.com/nook.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements (within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) and
information that are based on the beliefs of the management of Microsoft
or Barnes & Noble, as applicable, as well as assumptions made by and
information currently available to such management. When used in this
press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect,"
"intend," "plan," "will" and similar expressions, as they relate to
Barnes & Noble, NOOK Media Inc. or Microsoft or the management of Barnes
& Noble or Microsoft, identify forward-looking statements.
