Barnes and Noble on Monday night formally launched its expected e-book store, a new cross-platform alternative to its retail shops. The store carries about 700,000 titles, including a large number of public domain books made available from Google. Universal access is a focus and lets both Mac and Windows PC owners read titles through an updated version of Fictionwise's eReader app. iPhone and iPod touch owners can use the free B&N eReader app (App Store) to read titles on the road; BlackBerry owners also have a companion app.

The company also provided surprise news that it would be the default e-book store option for an upcoming Plastic Logic reader that can display 8.5x11-inch pages at full size. It will have some level of built-in wireless to download titles and a USB port. Whether it includes 3G or Wi-Fi is unclear, but the device is scheduled to ship sometime in early 2010.

Most books should cost about $10 each but will depend on the date of release and the profile of the book.