Barnes & Noble will launch its own digital video store for its Nook devices, attempting to compete more effectively against Amazon’s Kindle lineup.
The new Nook Video service will launch this fall with content licensed from studios and content providers including HBO, Sony, Starz, Viacom and Warner Bros., the book retailer announced this morning.
Interesting that there’s no mention of Microsoft in the announcement. The Redmond company took a sizable stake in the Nook unit this spring, but there have been few external signs of cooperation between Microsoft and Barnes & Noble since then.
Microsoft has been in the online video business itself for a long time now, particularly through Xbox Live, and some kind of connection to the new Nook Video service would make a ton of sense, at least as viewed from the outside. Then again, so would Skype for Xbox Live and Kinect, and we’re still waiting for that, as well.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook Video service will work on Nooks, tablets, televisions and smartphones, and the company says it will release free Nook Video apps for playback and syncing content across platforms, letting users pick up where they left off on a different device.
