Kindle's biggest rival, Nook, to launch in UK

American bookseller Barnes and Noble is to offer rivals to Amazon's Kindle products in the UK for the first time.

Barnes and Noble will bring its Nook Touch and Nook Touch with Glowlight products to the UK in October, starting at £80 for the Nook Touch.

The Nook touch is controlled by swiping on screen, like a smartphone, and offers a similar reading experience to Amazon's Kindles.

The Glowlight Touch has a built-in light round the rim of the reader for comfortable reading at night.

The Nook readers will offer a bigger selection of books and magazines than Amazon's rival Kindles, with 2.5 million titles availabe at launch.


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Both Nook models also offer improved battery life over Amazon's readers, lasting up to two months off one charge, or one month with the Glowlight on.

The company is the second-bigggest player in eBooks in the U.S. with 27% of the market, behind Amazon, but well ahead of Apple's iBooks store.

The products will be available from PC World and Currys.

“We are very excited to work with a company that, just like Barnes & Noble, puts its customers at the forefront of its business,” said Jamie Iannone, President of Digital Products at Barnes & Noble. “We look forward to bringing our highly sought-after line of NOOK reading devices and content to PC World and Currys customers this autumn.”

Dean Kramer, Head Of Category – Computing Hardware, Currys and PC World, said: “It’s vital, as the UK’s leading electrical retailers, that we continually offer  the right mix of products to meet customers’ needs.

"Portable tablet and eReading technology is becoming ever more popular so we are thrilled to be stocking Barnes & Noble’s stylish, high quality NOOK products; we believe they will be one of the must-have gadgets for Christmas.”

Barnes and Noble will also offer its readers online via a portal at www.nook.co.uk.