Microsoft and Barnes Noble write their own love story.微软公司和Barnes Noble共计写出爱情故事。LAST July Barnes Noble gave a presentation to the antitrust division of Americas Department of Justice.去年七月Barnes Noble向美国司法部反托拉斯部门做到了一个展示。

In slide after slide, the bookseller laid into Microsoft.Barnes Noble的每张幻灯片都在反击微软公司。The software giant, it thundered, was guilty of anti-competitive behaviour in demanding royalties from makers of mobile devices (such as the Nook, Barnes Nobles e-reader) that used Android, Googles open-source mobile operating system.它大骂微软公司这家软件巨头违法，因为微软公司向生产用于安卓(谷歌的手机开源操作系统)移动设备的厂商缴纳专利使用费是鼓吹竞争不道德（例如Barnes Noble的电子书阅读器Nook）。

The bookseller sniffed that Microsoft owned only trivial patents and reminded the department of the software companys past trespasses against competition.Barnes Noble嘲讽微软公司只享有一些不最重要的专利并向警告司法部微软公司以往的反竞争不道德。Nine months later, the bookworms and the geeks are the best of friends.九个月后，书虫和极客沦为了最差的朋友。On April 30th Barnes Noble said it was creating a subsidiary, called NewCo for now, into which it would put Nook and its college business, which has 641 bookshops on American campuses.4月30日，Barnes Noble宣告正式成立取名为NewCo的分支公司，该公司主营Nook和在美国校园享有641家书店的高校业务部。

Microsoft is putting up $300m for 17.6% of NewCo.微软公司投资3亿美元，享有17.6的股份。People will be able to buy and read e-books through a Nook application for Windows 8, a new incarnation of Microsofts operating system that is due to appear in a few months.人们将能通过WIN8版Nook应用于出售和读者电子书，WIN8是微软公司的新版操作系统，将在数月后问世。Microsoft will pay NewCo an advance of $180m over three years for such purchases, plus $125m over five years to buy content and develop technology.微软公司将不会提早缴纳1.8亿美元的三年使用费，并缴纳额外的1.25亿美元用作之后五年的内容出售和技术开发。The squabbles over patents have been settled: Microsoft is giving Barnes Noble a licence for the Nook and will get royalties in return.专利之争早已平息：微软公司给与Barnes Noble的Nook许可证并取得专利使用费。

For now at least, the Nook will remain an Android, not Windows, device.最起码就目前而言，Nook将依然是安卓阵营成员而非windows成员。The agreement values NewCo at $1.7 billion, more than twice Barnes Nobles market capitalisation before it was announced.协议中将NewCo估价为17亿美元，多达协议发布前Barnes Noble市值的两倍。The booksellers share price rose by 50% on the day of the deal—which tells you what investors think of the dead-tree end of the trade.协议达成协议当天Barnes Noble股价下跌50%，这指出投资者对这个实体书过时行业的观点。

The alliance should bring Barnes Noble not only cash but also new readers of digital books and magazines, especially outside the United States.两公司牵头某种程度给Barnes Noble带给资金还要带给新的电子书刊读者，特别是在是美国外的读者。In the fourth quarter of 2011, according to Tom Mainelli of IDC, a research firm, Barnes Noble accounted for one-fifth of the 7m e-readers shipped in America—against a mighty three-quarters for Amazon, maker of the Kindle (see chart).调查机构IDC的Tom Mainelli回应，2011年第四季度美国市场新的发售的七百万的电子书阅读器中，Barnes Noble占据五分之一，而Kindle的生产商亚马逊涵盖了四分之三。But Barnes Noble shipped no Nooks elsewhere, which helps explain why it had only 14% of the global market.但是Barnes Noble只在美国销售Nook，这也说明了为什么它只享有14%全球市场。

Via the Nook app, non-Americans will also be able to leaf through Barnes Nobles digital catalogue.通过Nook应用于，其他国家的居民也可以网页Barnes Noble的电子产品目录。Microsoft is in effect buying a second bash at a market where it made an early but unsuccessful start.实质上这是微软公司在早期打进电纸书市场告终后的第二次尝试。It launched its own e-reader software all of 12 years ago.12年前，微软公司就曾公布过自己的电纸书软件。

The deal with Barnes Noble, bringing lots of content with it, may give people an extra reason to buy Windows 8 tablets (a likelier choice for e-reading than smartphones, laptops or desktops) when they appear.这次与 Barnes Noble的协议又重新加入了诸多内容，这使得上市后出售WIN 8平板电脑的人们多了一个理由（就电子读者来说平板电脑是比智能手机，笔记本或台式机更佳的自由选择）。The bundling of Barnes Nobles college business into NewCo indicates hope that a fair few of these customers will be students.Barnes Noble的大量高校业务带入NewCo，这意味著多数客户未来将会是学生。Allen Weiner of Gartner , another research firm, suggests that through campus bookshops Barnes Noble could sell Windows devices pre-loaded with course material.调查机构低德纳公司的Allen Weiner似乎通过校园书店，Barnes Noble可以销售预先装有课程材料的Windous设备。Of course, others are after students dollars too. Apple recently started selling interactive digital textbooks for the iPad, far and away the biggest-selling tablet (among its publishing partners is Pearson, part-owner of The Economist).当然其他公司也对大学生市场虎视眈眈。

苹果公司最近开始为其买得最差的平板电脑ipad销售对话电子书（合作出版社之一是Pearson，也是经济学人的股东之一）。But Mr Weiner points out that Microsoft and Barnes Noble have some advantages. Lots of students write notes and essays with Microsofts Office software, which is not available on the iPad.但是Weiner认为微软公司和Barnes Noble有优势， 许多学生用于微软公司的office软件做到笔记，写文章，而ipad上却没这一软件。And although Amazon sells and rents a lot of paper textbooks, it has not done much with digital ones.而且尽管亚马逊销售租赁大量纸质教材，却并没过多牵涉到电子版教材。

The tie-up with Barnes Noble makes three of a kind for Microsoft: cheap deals with struggling but established partners in markets where it is weak and sees a chance to do much better.与Barnes Noble公司的合作关系是微软公司已完成了第三项同类合作： 在展现出不欠佳有大量下降空间市场里以廉价的合约和经营不欠佳但在业内已树起口碑的公司签下合作。In 2009 it struck an agreement with Yahoo! in online search.2009年，微软公司与雅虎就网上搜寻达成协议。Last year Nokia became the prime conduit for Windows in smartphones.去年，诺基亚沦为windows智能手机的最佳渠道。

With Barnes Noble it is having another stab at e-reading. Unlike the books on the Nook, this tale is still being written.而与Barnes Noble合作，则可以打进电子读者市场。不像Nook上的电子书那样，这个故事依旧在之后。

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