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New Nook coming May 24! Mirasol?

Barnes & Noble have just told investors that they plan to announce a new ereader later this month. They even filed paperwork with the SEC, which is how I know it happened.

Here’s the total sum of the announcement:

In a meeting with investor analysts on May 4, 2011, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (the “Company”) indicated it expects to make an announcement on May 24, 2011 regarding the launch of a new eReader device.

That’s it. Let the speculation commence!

May 24 is right in the middle of BEA 2011, which would be an excellent time to announce their latest gadget. They announced the Pandigital Novel at about the same time last year.

My guess is that this could be the Mirasol ereader. I have no proof, but it fits with the "before summer" release date promised by Qualcomm.

P.S. This could be why the original Nook kept going on sale this past month. They’re clearing out the stock.

Update: Mike Cane reminded me about the trademarks. B&N have filed for a couple different names that could be used for this new device:  “Nook2? and “Nook 2?, as well as “The Simple Touch Reader.” I’m leaning towards Nook2, but who knows.

via B&N

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Nate Has The Scoop: New Nook Coming! « Mike Cane's xBlog May 4, 2011 um 7:04 pm

[…] New Nook coming May 24! Mirasol? […]


Mike Cane May 4, 2011 um 7:13 pm

I refreshed and BOOM! say it the moment it was posted, I think. I’ve already built on it:
http://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/nate-has-the-scoop-new-nook-coming/

Mike Cane May 4, 2011 um 7:13 pm

*SAW it, not say it. Shit.

Mike Cane May 4, 2011 um 7:53 pm

My post has been updated four times now. I’m offering a contrarian view wherein this might not be Mirasol, just a VizPlex to Pearl switch with touchscreen.

Nate Hoffelder May 4, 2011 um 8:12 pm

I don’t really think it’s Mirasol. A Mirasol e-reader would clash with the NC.

Mike Cane May 5, 2011 um 8:24 am

Yes. And someone told me that Mirasol might be "married" to Amazon.


fjtorres May 4, 2011 um 7:56 pm

Being of a contrarian bent, I’m going to assume B&N knows it needs to make Nook2 cheaper than NookColor, not more expensive. So my take is they’re going to go cheaper and simpler, rather than adding cost. I’m betting on a smaller, lighter, single screen b&w reader with a one-handed interface instead of a touch screen.
The WiFi only version will be closer to $100 than $150.
May 24 we’ll know.

Tyler May 5, 2011 um 1:49 am

It could just be a Sony Clone with a Pearl display and touch screen.

Mike Cane May 5, 2011 um 8:25 am

I agree, although I’d be real surprised if they went 5″, like the 350 and not stay with 6″. I don’t think they’d put out more than one device with eInk.

fjtorres May 5, 2011 um 8:37 am

It could.
But B&N has shown they’re a bit more savvy than that.

B&N, Kobo, and Amazon all understand that the name of the game is to entice as many readers as possible into their ecosystems, not to move gold-plated cool hardware. Cool hardware has some use but ease of use and low entry price are better draws.

The aborted 4-hour price war of 2010 should have taught B&N that you don’t pick a fight wih somebody whose product is cheaper to build than yours. And the 2010 sales tally makes it clear that the appeal of touch screens is overstated.

Bear in mind that the best numbers we have for 2010 have Amazon at 8 million, B&N at 2.5 million (in the US alone) and Sony (worldwide) barely 1 million, touch screen or not.

In this game, any feature that adds cost has to justify its existence through added sales. Touch screens in low-end readers can’t meet this test.

Now, it may be that B&N is going upscale with this new reader, going after the education market with a 10in color reader; which would be a bold, non-Nook2 move. And smart.

But if B&N does a Nook2 they would be best advised to keep the hardware simple and cheap.
The ultimate goal here is to act as a bookseller looking to sell ebooks, not an electronics company selling pretty toys. This game will be won with blister pack readers in drugstores, supermarkets, and department stores.

Mike Cane May 5, 2011 um 10:17 am

>>>This game will be won with blister pack readers in drugstores, supermarkets, and department stores.

Nah. The dedicated devices are for people who don’t want LCD-screened tablets. Otherwise, it’s tablet/phone software that is primary. Which sucks for B&N, because their software is crap.

fjtorres May 5, 2011 um 12:54 pm

Beg to differ.
As amazon has proven there is a big market for readers for people who only want to read.
And, unlike app-based customers, device-based customers don’t stray as much. Lock-in is a competitive advantage now and for the forseeable future.

Not going to go into the whole dedicated vs multifunction debate; there is room for both.
But multifunction-only ebook ecosystems (*cough*iBook*cough*) are going to be at a competitive disadvantage just as hardware-only reader vendors and software-only (Blio, eReader, MSReader) are at a disadvantage.

The long term winner will be the ecosytem that is the most accessible to non-techies and price is a big element of accessibility. Standalone readers will be the flagships of each camp for years to come.


RC May 18, 2011 um 10:52 am

Nook needs more partnerships as per the article above in order to take some market share away from Amazon. If you look at a simple poll being conducted at , after 300+ votes, close to 50% of the voters have chosen the Nook Color over the Nook, Kindle 3, Kindle DX and other ereaders.

The above means that although a lot has been said about e-ink and that there is no need for color as far as reading books, most people do like the option of color.

So, I agree with others here that Nook should introduce a new, lower-cost color version.


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