Nook Color app downloads hit 1 million
Barnes & Noble has announced that 1 million apps have been downloaded in the first week of its Nook Color marketplace being open.
Barnes & Noble's Nook Color application marketplace appears to be catching on with users.
Barnes & Noble announced today that 1 million applications were downloaded from its marketplace in the first week of availability. Not surprisingly, Angry Birds was the most popular paid application, followed by Drawing Pad and Solitaire, the company said. Aces Jewel Hunt and Astraware Mahjong rounded out the top five paid apps. Fliq Calendar and Fliq Notes were the most popular free applications in the store.
Barnes & Noble released a major update to its $250 7-inch e-reader late last month. The update delivered a customized version of Android 2.2 (Froyo) and Flash support when users took to the Web. The free update also included access to more than 125 free and paid apps. The company said today that about half the available applications sell for $2.99 or less, while the "vast majority" can be purchased for $5.99 or less.
The move marked an interesting shift on Barnes & Noble's part. The Nook Color was previously billed as a "reader's tablet." But after the update launched, Barnes & Noble added the words "full-featured" to the description. In fact, the company quickly changed its Nook Color page, calling it the "best value of any tablet on the market."
As excited as Barnes & Noble might be about hitting its milestone, the company has a long way to go to even secure a presence in the mobile-application marketplace. Earlier this year, Apple announced that 10 billion applications had been downloaded to iOS-based devices since the App Store's launch in 2008.