Barnes & Noble Inc aims to make its Nook tablets more appealing to consumers by offering buyers access to Google Inc’s apps store, hoping to generate interest in a device that has made little headway against Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle and Apple Inc’s iPad.

The top US bookstore chain, trying to reverse a drop in sales last holiday season of its Nook devices, which include e-readers, announced it would add Google Play to its Nook HD and Nook HD+ devices.

The move is to increase the number of apps on the Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets, which first came to market in November, to 750,000 from about 10,000, or roughly the same as the iPad, in an effort to remedy what the company recognises is the Nook’s Achilles heel: a limited selection of “apps” or software.

“This deal is about plugging that gap. Consumers told us they wanted more apps,” Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said.

Nook HD and Nook HD+ devices sold in stores as of last week already have Google Play installed. Existing customers are able to download it at Nook’s online store and via an automatic over-the-air update.

The tablets also have Google services like Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps and the Chrome web browser.

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