Barnes & Noble announced today an agreement with AT&T that will provide complimentary in-store Wi-Fi to any customer that visits a Barnes & Noble bookstore nationwide. All customers shopping in Barnes & Noble stores can now freely download and preview any of the over 700,000 and growing eBook titles with hundreds of thousands of public domain titles available from Google.
“Barnes & Noble pioneered the concept of retail stores as community centers,” said Steve Riggio, CEO of Barnes & Noble, Inc. “By providing no-fee Wi-Fi access, we are not only meeting our customers’ needs, but extending the sense of community that has always been in our stores.”
As a part of the Wi-Fi offering announced today, customers will soon be able to opt-in to receive personalized messages from Barnes & Noble -” such as a coupon to the in-store café, notices on an author book signing or details on where to find a new book release in their favorite genre -” on their Wi-Fi enabled devices when they enter the store.
Customers can also download the free Barnes & Noble Bookstore app for iPhone and iPod touch.
The free apps allows customers to:
- Discover their next great read by browsing bestsellers, B&N Recommends lists, new releases or watching video interviews with authors.
- Check the events calendar for celebrity book signings, readings, musical performances and children’s Storytimes.
- Find the closest Barnes & Noble, get maps and directions.
- Use the iPhone’s camera to snap a photo of a front cover and within seconds promptly retrieve product details, editorial reviews, and customer ratings -“ even find and reserve a copy in the nearest store.
Barnes & Noble eReader app for the Barnes & Noble eBookstore -“ enabling convenient anytime, anywhere eBook reading on iPhone and iPod touch; BlackBerry smartphones, PC’s and Mac laptops and desktops. Offers customers:
- Instant access to more than 700,000 eBook titles.
- Hundreds of new releases and bestsellers at $9.99.
- More than half a million public domain titles available.
- Powerful tools to optimize the reading experience, including the ability to modify type size and font and annotate and bookmark text, as well as an innovative auto-scroll feature enabling users hands free reading.
- Read free eBooks today: www.bn.com/ebooks
