New York, New York – November 7, 2011 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, invites leading third-party developers and content providers to join its robust NOOK Developer program and build upon the amazing collection of high-quality applications optimized for NOOK devices including the just-announced NOOK Tablet and award-winning NOOK Color™. In just one year, NOOK Developer has experienced tremendous momentum and success, drawing the interest of leading developers and content companies around the world to offer their popular, high-quality apps to Barnes & Noble’s expansive customer base who have made millions of downloads.
The bestselling NOOK Apps have grossed over $100,000 in the first 30 days of sale. According to a recent Evans Data benchmarking survey of the NOOK Developer community, commissioned by Barnes & Noble, the NOOK storefront is the number one Android-based application platform in terms of revenue channels, and the number two platform overall. Hundreds of third-party developers and content providers have benefitted from bringing their applications to the NOOK platform, citing unprecedented revenue and unique methods of driving discovery and demand of their content and applications. Among the factors contributing to their success, developers attribute access to Barnes & Noble’s loyal, integrated customer base, the unique benefits of NOOK’s open Android platform, and joint physical and digital merchandising opportunities.
“We are excited about the exponential growth of our NOOK Developer program over the last year since we launched our bestselling NOOK Color, and with the launch of our new reading and entertainment-centric NOOK Tablet, we are providing even more opportunities for third-party developers and content providers to reach millions of Barnes & Noble customers and offer high-quality apps to enrich and enhance the content experience,” said Claudia Romanini, Director of Developer Relations at Barnes & Noble. “Our partners have provided a vast array of fun games, puzzles, children’s and other helpful apps on these devices and tell us our app curation model is working very well for them. Developers and content providers are also thrilled with the opportunity to reach our customers and market their apps through a blended online and offline experience – through the device, in stores and the newly announced NOOK Digital Shops™.”
NOOK Tablet was built for power and speed, with a highly tuned 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. Lightweight and designed for maximum portability, the device also features a built-in microphone. In pace with the ever-evolving digital landscape, NOOK Developer is continuously enhancing its tools and services to enable developer success with NOOK Apps – from providing updates to its SDK to support NOOK Tablet’s new features, to streamlining ingestion and enabling new merchandising programs. Effective immediately, Barnes & Noble is inviting developers from both the United States and abroad, enabling international developers from the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Canada and more, to submit apps to sell in the NOOK storefront in the U.S.
The NOOK Developer team has also partnered with Appcelerator, the leading mobile cloud platform for rapidly developing native mobile, desktop, and tablet applications using open web technologies to accelerate the deployment of Appcelerator Titanium™ apps on Barnes & Noble’s digital storefront. And, through a new partnership with Mobihand and its ChannelConnect service, B&N is excited to extend the reach of the NOOK storefront to Mobihand’s developer community, bringing more best-in-class apps and catalog depth and breadth to NOOK customers.
First available on the company’s award-winning NOOK Color – and now NOOK Tablet – NOOK Apps take advantage of the world’s most advanced VividView™ touchscreen display, to offer the richest content experience available. NOOK offers the best assortment of the most popular games, entertainment, productivity and children’s apps: from word games to weather, movies to music, dining to decorating, and anything else in between. NOOK Tablet will extend the catalog with thousands of new, exciting additions, from partners including Netflix, with a pre-loaded app on NOOK Tablet, plus apps available through the NOOK storefront from MOG, Break Media, Ustream, Smithsonian Channel, TV.com, Rhapsody, TuneIn, Grooveshark, Rovio, EA Mobile™, Conde Nast, Concrete Software, Loudcrow, Oceanhouse Media, Drawing Pad, iStorytime and more. With the quality collection of NOOK Apps, customers can choose from a selection of only the best apps available, and enjoy a simple, organized way to discover and purchase apps – right alongside their favorite books, periodicals and more.
Developers are invited to join and submit their applications by visiting www.nookdeveloper.com. Built on the Android OS, it is fast and easy for third-party developers to deploy existing Android-based apps to NOOK’s open eReading platform. Unlike other developer programs, there is no program fee for developers to participate. Developers who qualify will be able to submit paid and free apps and will receive 70 percent of any paid app purchased by Barnes & Noble customers. Developers also have the option to offer free trials to NOOK Tablet and NOOK Color customers.