"Barnes & Noble E-Reader Could Come Oct. 20 With Lending Options"
"On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Barnes & Noble is set to introduce its own six-inch touch-screen device to compete with Amazon’s Kindle....The bookseller will likely introduce it on Oct. 20. The company has an event planned for that day at Chelsea Piers in New York, for what an invitation calls “a major event in our company’s history.” Again, Barnes & Noble has no comment.
The bookseller also hopes to make e-book lending a centerpiece of its device, according to two people in publishing who asked not to be named because talks were confidential. Readers can not lend digital books on the Kindle, although books can be read on up to six separate devices linked to the same Amazon account.
But B.&N. has been talking to publishers about a new model, whereby users are granted a license to “lend” an e-book to a friend. This could help the bookseller market the device to members of its book clubs program. However, publishers are pushing back on this feature and the two sides are currently engaged in discussions about how many loans a year publishers will allow."
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