GOOGLE PLAY FOR NOOK

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 U.S. 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 as of Friday.