Microsoft and Barnes and Nobel agree on Nook

Taken from: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9226816/Nook_deal_lets_Microsoft_integrate_e_bookstore_with_its_software_services
And
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577375502392129654.html

Microsoft Corp. is pledging $605 million to help bolster Barnes and Noble Inc.'s Nook digital-book business, as the software giant wages another bet on an industry where it has lagged behind rivals.The deal catapults Microsoft into a high-stakes battleground whose combatants include Amazon.com; Apple, and Google, and also gives Barnes & Noble a lifeline to continue investing in its fast-growing digital-book business. As part of its investment, Microsoft is taking a 17.6% stake in a new subsidiary that will include the e-book division and Barnes & Noble's college bookstores unit, which operates 641 stores.

And

Barnes & Noble will distribute its free Nook Metro app through Microsoft's Windows Store, putting to rest talk of Microsoft embedding the program in Windows 8.But Microsoft and Barnes & Noble will work on ways to integrate digital content purchased through the Nook app with other Microsoft products and services. 

From previous blog postings, the feeling is that the world is going mobile (be it smartphones or the growing interest in tablet computing).  Microsoft has lagged behind in the mobile market 


Microsoft is working on Windows 8 - including a smartphone version of Windows 8 - out later this year.  To be able to release the operating system - and to have apps (like the Nook e-reader) available is essential.  


With iBooks on Apple, Kindle app (on iPad and others), the Nook app is almost a necessity for Microsoft to compete.  


While it might be 'too-little' and 'too-late', that is yet to be seen.  Microsoft is still a big presence in the computing field and this alliance might work!!