
Barnes and Noble has issued a preemptive strike against Amazon in the eReader wars this month. Both the
nook and the
Kindle
are priced at $259 and on June 6, Target will be selling the Kindle in all of it's physical stores, following their successful test last month in selected markets. Both stores have a number of free books available to download, with most of the titles overlapping, but a few unique ones in each. B&N is going one step farther, though, and will give every new
nook purchaser a
free $50 gift card to use in the bookstore (and there does not appear to be any requirement to use it only on ebooks). This offer is valid both for store purchases and those direct from B&N and expires either at the end of the month or when they meet some (super-secret) number of units sold. If you've bought a nook within the last two weeks, you should be able to get a gift certificate, as well, according to reports from those who have contacted B&N (although there is nothing in the written details to confirm, so your mileage may vary).