As the electronic book reader market heats up with a number of new offerings coming up, this was an unexpected flare up: Spring Design, makers of the Alex dual-screen eReader, are suing Barnes & Noble over their Nook eBook reader, another dual-screen device announced the day after the Alex.
The lawsuit claims that Barnes & Noble violated an NDA with Spring Design and misappropriated trade secrets by copying features from the Alex into their own Nook eReader.
Spring Design’s VP of Sales and Marketing was quoted as saying “We showed the Alex e-book design to Barnes & Noble in good faith with the intention of working together to provide a superior dual screen e-book to the market.” In development since 2006, the Alex runs the Android operating system and utilizes two screens to provide an innovative level of interactivity as compared to current market leader, the Amazon Kindle.
Spring Design had apparently been working with Barnes & Noble since the beginning of this year under a non-disclosure agreement, with the original intent of collaborating on the device. Barnes & Noble executives reportedly praised the innovative features of the device without mentioning their plans to incorporate similar functionality into the Nook device they publicly disclosed last month.
It’s unclear at this point what consequences the lawsuit might have on the launch and sale of either device. We’ll keep an eye on the situation and post updates as they become available.
Were you planning on picking up either of these devices? What’s your take on the allegations, and what impact do you think it will have on the burgeoning eReader market? Check out the comparison photos below and let us know what you think.
Barnes & Noble Nook
Spring Design Alex
[via Peter Rojas]
Reviews: Android
Tags: alex, android, barnes & noble, e-ink, ebooks, ereader, nook, spring design
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