The Barnes and Noble Booksellers store in Alabama. (Photo: AP)

NEW YORK

US bookseller Barnes & Noble says it will launch a video service this fall that lets users buy and watch movies and TV shows on their mobile devices and televisions.

The New York-based company says users of Nook Video will be able to shop an extensive collection of movies and shows from major studios including HBO, Sony Pictures, Viacom and Warner Brothers. The move into video puts Barnes & Noble more directly into competition with other online video providers, including Amazon.com and Apple.

Users will be able to download videos and view them on Barnes & Noble’s Nook tablets and other devices with the Nook Video app, which the company plans to launch soon.

A company representative was not immediately available to comment on the prices for videos or whether Barnes & Noble would consider offering an unlimited streaming service similar to Netflix Inc.

Barnes & Noble, the largest traditional US bookseller, is facing tough competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com, which sells the Kindle tables and e-readers, as consumers increasingly move away from traditional books in favour of electronic books, and from DVDs to streaming video.

That has prompted the company to invest heavily in its Nook e-reader and e-books, with digital content playing a key role in its last quarters.

Last month, the company said its Nook unit — which includes e-readers, digital content and accessories — had basically flat revenue at US$192 million ($17.2 billion) in its fiscal first quarter. Sales of digital content surged 46 per cent. This content includes digital books, digital newsstand and the apps business.

Barnes & Noble has 689 stores in the US. The company’s stock rose more than three per cent to US$13.20 in morning trading.