Barnes & Noble clears up confusion, says no Windows 8 on Nooks anytime soon
A few days ago, the news that Microsoft had invested $300 billion in the Nook division of Barnes & Noble spurred rumors that Microsoft would be utilizing the Nook platform for deployment of Windows 8 hardware. While many people liked the idea, Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said in an interview that it is still too early to for the companies to be considering a joint tablet venture.
Instead, he says that for now the integration will only come in the form of applications, which we already knew from the previous announcement. In addition, they will be working together to integrate products like the Nook book store with Office in order to make more useful tools for students, consumers, and other users. Lynch also made it sound like the company will continue to use Android for the time being when he said this.
"Currently, we’ve not communicated anything related to the road map about any hardware collaboration on Nook. Nook, as you know, uses open sourcing. Microsoft is obviously very entrenched in Windows."
While he did say it wouldn't be happening in the near future, the interview did leave the door open for a future Windows 8 Nook device. The Nook hardware has historically been pretty good, so if they do eventually release a tablet at the right price I have a feeling it would be quite a big deal. Just think of what the Kindle Fire has done for Android.
[eWeek]
