Barnes & Noble Also Slated to Release a Plastic eReader Geared for Business Folk

Posted 10/28/2009 at 2:05pm | by Bart Salisbury

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The more the merrier, at least it seems to be for Barnes & Noble, which has inked a deal to sell Plastic Logic’s QUE eReader along side its own, recently announced, Nook eReader. This move follows an earlier agreement between the two companies to allow QUE users access to book downloads through Barnes & Noble’s online bookstore.

The QUE is, according to Plastic Logic, about the size of an 8.5 x 11-inch pad of paper, and has a shatterproof touch screen display. The QUE is less than one-third of an inch thick and has built-in WiFi and 3G wireless capability (through AT&T). The QUE can handle PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents, and will come with tools that allow interaction with, and management of, content. Actual design features, however, are pretty much a mystery, as Plastic Logic hasn’t been very forthcoming with images showing the QUE’s configuration.

Barnes & Noble hopes the combination of eReaders will mount a credible challenge against Amazon’s Kindle. According to William J. Lynch, president of BN.com, “Carrying [Nook] and QUE allows us to provide consumers a one-stop destination in Barnes & Noble stores to demo and buy two of the best eBook readers on the market.”

Pricing and availability were not included in the announcement. It is expected that Plastic Logic will announce such details at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in January.

Image Credit: Barnes & Noble, Plastic Logic