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Nov

Information Surrounding Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet Slips Out - Look Out Kindle Fire

Posted by Liam Spradlin in News, Nook Tablet, Tablets

Looking to keep pace with Amazon, it seems Barnes & Noble has something up their sleeve this month - the Nook Tablet. Coming to market in just under two weeks, the Nook Tablet is a dead ringer for the Nook Color, but it brings to the table substantially pumped up specs that, in some ways, surpass its nearest competition - the Kindle Fire.

A nice set of photocopied documents leaked out today, giving us all the details we need about the Nook Tablet - it's set to launch November 16th at a cool $249. Yes, that is about $50 higher than the Kindle Fire, but wait till you see the specs:

OMAP 4 Dual-Core Processor at 1.2GHz
1GB RAM
16GB On Board Storage
7" VividView IPS Display at 1024x600 (169ppi)
About 8 Hours of Battery Life
A Trim(mer) 8.1 x 5 x .48" Form Factor

As you can see, the Nook Tablet actually bests Amazon's Fire in terms of both storage and RAM.

Oct

Barnes & Noble Having A Breakfast NOOK Event On November 7th, But How Will All Those Journalists Fit In One Room?

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Barnes & Noble, News

It seems earlier suspicions that Barnes & Noble would be unveiling a replacement for the NOOK Color on November 7th have been all but confirmed by an e-mail invitation the company has sent out to major tech outlets:

There has been no reliable information about the next NOOK Color leaked at this point, though with a week to go, we won't be surprised if the device gets an unauthorized blurrycameo before its official unveiling.

What do you think, can B&N out-Kindle Amazon with the next NOOK Color? Amazon's extremely narrow (read: negative) profit margin on each Kindle Fire will make them hard to undercut, or even match, with any kind of comparable hardware.

Oct

Rumor: Barnes And Noble Getting Ready For The Next NOOK On November 7th

Posted by David Ruddock in Barnes & Noble

According to The Digital Reader (confirmed by The Wall Street Journal), Barnes and Noble stores are expanding their NOOK areas in retail stores for the holidays, and likely in time for the next generation of NOOK.

Digital Reader claims that on November 7, B&N will make an announcement regarding the NOOK line of products, and that the expansion of the NOOK Boutique in retail locations is being undertaken to prepare for the arrival of the new Android-powered color eReader.

Many have speculated that B&N would unveil a new NOOK before the holiday season here in the U.S., as the NOOK Color has reached a practical end of life when compared to the hardware of its primary competitor, Amazon's Kindle Fire.

Sep

Deal Alert: Refurbished NOOK Color For Just $150 Shipped, Ends At Midnight

Posted by David Ruddock in Barnes & Noble, Deals, NOOKcolor (Encore)

Looking to get a full-color eReader on the cheap? Or perhaps a CyanogenMod conversion candidate? DailySteals is offering up refurbished B&N NOOK Color tablets for just $150, shipping included (next best price we've found is $190 shipped for a refurb).

That's quite a steal for a 7" IPS display, complete with the NOOK's signature carabineer hook thing. The NOOK Color has been renowned for its hackability, particularly because you can get it to run CyanogenMod 7 pretty easily. And once you do that, you have a full-featured Android (albeit Gingerbread) tablet with Market access and a thriving developer community. For $150, we're going to go ahead and say this is one of the better deals you'll ever see on an Android tab.

May

Barnes And Noble Unveils The Next Nook: 2 Months Of Battery Life, Android, E-Ink, And More For $140

Posted by David Ruddock in Barnes & Noble, News, Nook

It seems Barnes and Noble gave everyone a bit of a surprise today. It was expected that the bookseller would be launching a 3G version of its wildly popular NOOK e-reader (or maybe even a 3G NOOKcolor), but instead, B&N went straight for the competition's throat, launching the 6-inch e-ink display sporting, Android-powered (albeit Android 2.1) NOOK Simple Touch Reader. And all for the low, low cost of $140 - a price suspiciously reminiscent of a certain other e-book reader.

Look mom, no buttons!

Anyway, as I said, the screen is e-ink - so you're only getting black and white. But you're also getting absolutely ridiculous battery life: B&N claims 2 months on a single charge with Wi-Fi turned off.

Apr

[WTF] Barnes & Noble Responds To Microsoft's Android Lawsuit, Reminds Us Why MS Is The Devil

Posted by Brad Ganley in Android OS, Editorials, News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

Last month, Microsoft took bookseller Barnes & Noble, the company responsible for the Nook and Nook Color, to court over some patents infringed because B&N used the Android operating system in the Nook and Nook Color. This is definitely nothing new in the world of mobile devices. It happens all the time, especially with companies like Apple and Microsoft trying to take complete dominance of every arena they enter. That's not the big story here. The big story is the extremely, and I mean EXTREMELY douche-tastic way Microsoft is trying to attack Android with these patents.

One of Android's biggest advantages (besides being vastly superior, of course) is that it costs exactly nothing.

Apr

NOOK Color Official Froyo Update: It's Almost A Real Tablet Now, No Hacking Required

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

The Barnes & Noble NOOK Color has been the e-reader of choice for many Android power users because of its hackability, making it easy to transform it into a full featured tablet. B&N must've taken note from the Android dev community, because an update has just been released for the NOOK Color that brings Froyo, apps, flash player, and more to this budget friendly device.

Before you get too excited, though, it's not exactly what you think. There is no access to the Android Market, nor does it include any Google Apps. In order to keep the user experience consistent, B&N has its own set of proprietary libraries that developers must use when writing apps for the NOOK Color, so everything flows together within the NOOK ecosystem.

Mar

Microsoft Suing Barnes & Noble For Not Paying Android-Related Patent Fees For Nook Color

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

Microsoft announced today that they are filing legal action against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec for their collaborative role in manufacturing the Nook Color. Why would Microsoft be suing for anything even remotely related to the Nook Color? As you probably know, the Nook runs a version of Android and Microsoft owns several patents which it claims Android violates. Microsoft says that anyone making an Android device needs to pay them, or else they are going to do as they have done today - and sue them.

"The Android platform infringes a number of Microsoft’s patents, and companies manufacturing and shipping Android devices must respect our intellectual property rights.

Mar

Nook Color Can Now Use Bluetooth For Keyboards And SIP Calling

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

We learned a couple of months ago that Bluetooth had been unlocked for Nook Color on a developmental level, but not until today has it been available for users. Developers fattire and verygreen have collaborated on a CM7 SD card bootable ROM that will let you sync your Bluetooth keyboard or headset to the "eReader." As trusted dev dalingrin noted earlier in our comments, the Bluetooth functionality has also been committed to the CyanogenMod 7 nightlies and is now available.

It has hardly been perfected yet, as early reports are saying that the Bluetooth range is currently ranging from one to five feet, but the fact that these ambitious devs have taken this eReader one step closer to having full tablet functionality is quite impressive.

Mar

PSA: Please Don't Pay $80 For A Nook Color SD Card That Runs Honeycomb

Posted by Will Shanklin in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, NOOKcolor (Encore), Tips & Tutorials

I have a Nook Color and I have had loads of fun modding it. From basic rooting to Froyo, CM7, and Honeycomb, there are several options available now for those wanting to transform it from a tablet-esque eReader into a $250 entry level Android tablet. These operations range from simple to somewhat advanced, so I understand that some people are going to be a little intimidated by the prospect of hacking an expensive device. Naturally some might rather ask a more experienced tinkerer to do the job for them, and not risk messing something up. I get that. However, do I think paying upwards of $80 for an SD card that runs the port of the Honeycomb SDK preview is a wise decision?