Amazon Prepares Website Redesign Ahead Of Tablet Launch
In anticipation of its release of its $250, Android-based, 7-inch tablet, Amazon is embarking on a website redesign. The new user interface is sleeker and has removed the store department buttons on the left for a tidy drop-down menu and doing away with many of the graphics and other UI elements removed. This results in a bigger search box and more whitespace on the site.
The new redesign is a simpler version and has a less-cluttered interface for customers on the homepage. The customer is directed to the e-books and music sections of the website. This should come as no surprise as Amazon is counting on the digital sales of both the e-books and music to subsidise the relatively low-cost of the tablet all potentially posing the first real challenge to Apple’s iPad in the tablet space.
Also the redesign of its website is also a step in the positive direction for Amazon as it seeks to get into the relatively young tablet market. Preliminary surveys have it that tablet users use their tablets for shopping. For example, a recent report by Forrester shows that the bigger screens, portability and user-friendliness makes it unrivaled in shopping when compared to smartphones and this is a market Amazon will be keen on having a lion’s share of.
Since simplicity means an increase in the user-friendliness of the website which could in turn benefit desktop users which could translate in more sales for the Web’s top retailer. Early predictions by Forrester suggest that Amazon could sell between 3 to 5 million tablets in the fourth quarter.
(Courtesy: RWW)
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Nook Color Android-based tablet/eReader from Barnes & Noble has been on the market for over a year and sold millions of units at $250. Gives Flash, apps, videos, color magazines and ebooks with video inserts, and the best anti-glare coated screen on the market. Technology “leader” Amazon is finally catching up with the book store company by copying their device.
Kindle only supports eBooks in its proprietary AZW format. Nook, on the other hand, supports both DRM-protected and DRM-free ebooks in ePub format thus it supports ebooks from B&N store, from any other DRM-free source on the web, and from public libraries.
If you walk in with the Nook to Barnes & Noble store, you’re allowed to read any available eBook for free while in the store via free provided in the store Wi-Fi.
Nook Color has several apps that already come with the device (Pandora Internet radio, QuickOffice, etc.) and hundreds of other apps are available for download. Also, you can use the Social Settings screen to link your NOOK Color to your Facebook account and your Twitter account. You can also import all your contacts from your Google Gmail account. Once you have linked to Facebook and Twitter and set up email contacts, you can lend and borrow books, recommend books, and share favorite quotes with your friends.