That’s right, for a limited time, Barnes & Noble is offering a free coffee from their in-store cafes to everyone that downloads their new app for the iPhone or iPod Touch. You will receive a completely free Tall Coffee (hot or iced) simply by showing your iPhone to the server, with the app installed (limit one per phone).
This may very well be the first time you can get something tangible for free by simply installing a piece of software. Although, I did report last month about Microsoft’s attempt to spur more downloads of IE8 by offering meals to needy families for every download. However, installing this app gives you instant gratification with a free coffee in your hand.
Free coffee aside, the Barnes & Noble app is pretty cool. By far the most innovative feature is its ability to use the camera on the iPhone to find the book you want. Simply take a picture of a book’s front cover to bring up reviews, pricing, customer ratings, and reserve a copy of it at your nearest Barnes & Noble. This is how the iPhone is changing the way we interact with software; by seamlessly integrating multiple technologies like image recognition and location-aware search results.
To download this app, check out Barnes & Noble on the iTunes store.
