Nook HD And HD+ Get Google Play
With its announcement tonight, B&N acknowledges that, in this case, open is better. The company has responded directly to user feedback and will be issuing a software update to its Nook HD and Nook HD+ devices (sorry Nook Tablet and Color owners) that brings Google Play directly to the desktop. The software will come pre-loaded on new devices and will be available as an over-the-air update. If you can’t wait that long, you’ll also be able to download it directly from the bookseller’s site. The update also brings a few other tweaks to the system, but this is far and away the biggest news. The first question we asked upon getting a quick demo: will you be able to buy content like books, magazines and movies through Play? Yep, that’s coming too.
Barnes and Noble sacrificed profit margins on the Nook tablets to encourage purchases through its stores. With the addition of Google Play to these devices, they are, effectively, giving up that revenue stream as well.
If they weren’t before, Barnes and Noble must be making losses on these products now. Why are they bothering to still sell them?