Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader leaks a bit early: $259, pre-orders are live (video)
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 20th 2009 1:51PM
posted Oct 20th 2009 1:51PM
B&N also tells us that you can pick up where you left off (with markings and highlights in tact) on your iPhone or BlackBerry using its free eReader software, which just so happens to be the same app that allows sharing to iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, PC or Mac. As expected, the company will also let you sample ebooks before you buy, and you'll enjoy free WiFi each and every time you sashay into a Barnes & Noble retail location. It's available to pre-order as we speak for $259, with initial shipments expected to happen at the end of November. Introductory video is after the break, along with a few highlights about accessories and features.
Update: Aw snap, B&N just yanked everything related to nook from its website. Thankfully for you, everything you'd ever need to know is right here.
Update 2: Looks like it's back! Though, the landing page itself still seems down. Hurray for backdoors!
Update 3: Be sure to check out our live reveal coverage and our hands-on images / video!
- Barnes & Noble will sell extra rechargeable batteries, though pricing has yet to be posted
- A whole slew of covers are available, some of them by known designers
- Extra accessories include the Lyra Light, Matte Screen Film Kit and AC Adapter & USB Cable Kit, though none are showing prices just yet
- A 2-year protection plan is available for $69.95, and B&N claims that "if anything goes wrong, it'll fix or replace the nook for free." YMMV.
Barnes & Noble Introduces nook™, its Wireless eBook Reader with E Ink® Display &
First Color Touch Screen for Navigation; First Device to Allow Readers to Lend eBooks
Most-Connected eBook Reader Offers Free 3G Wireless and Wi-Fi Access to Over One Million eBooks, Newspapers and Magazines;
Wi-Fi Enables Free In-Store Browsing of Complete eBooks
"Reading Now" Technology Provides Seamless Access to Content:
Forget your nook? Pick up where you left off on your iPhone, PC or Mac
Taking Pre-Orders now for $259 at nook.com and in Barnes & Noble Stores;
Device will be Available end of November
New York, New York – October 20, 2009 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, announced today the launch of nook, the Barnes & Noble eBook reader, which marries innovative technology and sleek minimalist design with access to the company's digital store of over one million eBooks, newspapers and magazines.
nook features many industry firsts as it is the first Android™-based eBook reader and the first to offer a color touch screen for navigation along with a best-in-class E Ink display for an immersive, enjoyable e-reading experience. For fast connectivity, nook is the first eBook reader to provide, at no additional costs to customers, both 3G wireless access on AT&T's mobile broadband network and access to Wi-Fi for Barnes & Noble in-store browsing and enjoyment. And to help friends share their joy of reading, nook is the first eBook reader to offer digital lending for a wide selection of eBooks.
"We asked our customers what they wanted in an eBook reader, and specifically designed nook to be the most full-featured, fun, stylish and easy-to-use eBook reader on the market," said William J. Lynch, President of Barnes & Noble.com. "With our nationwide footprint, Barnes & Noble customers can see, touch and hold nook. Our 40,000 booksellers are ready to help customers discover how easy it is to download and read eBooks on nook, and what a pleasure it is to have access to their favorite eBooks, magazines and newspapers any time and anywhere."
nook: The Device
The centerpiece of Barnes & Noble's strategy to deliver any book, any time, anywhere, nook was created expressly with the reader in mind, with features and functionality to create an immersive, seamless and fun experience:
nook's sleek, minimalist design puts the focus on the content, not the technology, and the combination of color and touch make navigation intuitive and simple. nook feels great in hand and features a contoured, easy-to-hold back. About the size and weight of a paperback book, nook is thin, small and portable. Its best-in-class E Ink Vizplex™ display is easy on the eyes with text as clear and crisp as a printed book. And with no glare or backlight and adjustable text size, you can read comfortably for hours without straining your eyes.
Color Touch for Easy Navigation
The beautiful lower color touch screen offers an immersive experience, inviting you to virtually browse through brilliant cover art, flip through an expansive library, or search using a virtual keyboard. nook presents the controls, navigation and keyboard you need, only when you need them.
Download eBooks Wirelessly
With fast 3G wireless and Wi-Fi access, nook is the most-connected eBook reader. Browse and instantly download eBooks, magazines and newspapers simply and seamlessly on AT&T's 3G wireless network, the nation's fastest, with no set-up required or additional wireless costs. Connect to the complimentary Wi-Fi, provided by the AT&T Wi-Fi network, in Barnes & Noble stores and download at broadband fast speeds.
Lend eBooks to Friends
With nook's breakthrough LendMe™ technology, lend a wide selection of eBooks to friends free of charge, for up to 14 days at a time. Just choose the book you want to share and send it to your friend's nook or iPhone, iPod touch, select BlackBerry® and Motorola smartphones, PC or Mac® with Barnes & Noble eReader software.
A Continuous Reading Experience
With "Reading Now," your virtual bookmark, nook brings you back to the last book you've read, right where you left off. And it works across a range of devices. If you forgot your nook at home, Barnes & Noble's free eReader software on your iPhone, select BlackBerry and Motorola smartphones or laptop lets you pick up where you left off, including annotations. And when you're reunited with your nook again, the Reading Now page will be updated and ready to go.
A Wealth of Content, in the Palm of Your Hand
nook can hold up to 1,500 eBooks and other printed content, and the sky's the limit for your digital library when you use nook's expandable memory slot. A 16GB MicroSD card holds up to 17,500 eBooks.
Portability and Personalization
You can also easily transfer PDF-format documents from your computer to access and read business documents, legal contracts and travel information on your nook. And transfer your photos to create custom screensavers.
Protect Your nook in Style
nook comes with a removable back cover you can personalize from a selection of four additional great colors. You can also choose from a range of accessories by renowned designers kate spade new york, Jack Spade, Jonathan Adler, Tahari and others. From classic and colorful portfolios to an innovative book light, Barnes & Noble will offer stylish and elegant accessories designed exclusively for nook both in stores and online.
Over One Million eBooks, Newspapers and Magazines
As part of nook's introduction, Barnes & Noble has further expanded its wide selection of content to satisfy every reader.
Expanded eBookstore
From fiction to horror and romance to thrillers, with the launch of nook, Barnes & Noble's eBookstore now offers the most eBook titles – over one million – with most bestsellers and new releases for just $9.99.
Your Daily Newspapers on nook
Read your "morning paper" any time, anywhere you go. Barnes & Noble now offers subscriptions to more than 20 newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. Barnes & Noble expects to offer, in digital form, subscriptions to every major U.S. daily.
Read Your Favorite Magazines
As the nation's second largest retailer of magazines, Barnes & Noble is now pleased to offer its customers digital subscriptions. Enjoy reading publications including Forbes, Newsweek and The Nation on your nook, at home or on the go.
Experience nook at Your Local Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble's nationwide network of stores enables its customers to see nook and get hands-on demonstrations from its booksellers. Furthermore, nook owners get added benefits.
Stunning Retail Displays
Barnes & Noble has created stunning storefront displays for nook that begin rolling out tomorrow in its highest-volume stores including 17 College bookstores such as DePaul University, Harvard University, Southern Methodist University, University of Pennsylvania and Washington State University. nook will be on display at its fully staffed customer service centers in every store.
Dedicated Booksellers
Barnes & Noble's 40,000 booksellers are ready to help customers get the most of their nook e-reading experience, demonstrate the eReader applications on other devices, and assist and support purchases, browsing and downloads in-store.
Free Complete eBook Browsing
Customers will also be able to browse complete eBooks for free on nook at any Barnes & Noble store, whether or not the actual book is in stock, beginning later this year. Plus settle into the café and get exclusive in-store-only content, free eBooks, special offers and much more using Barnes & Noble's complimentary Wi-Fi, provided by the AT&T Wi-Fi network.
Availability
nook, the Barnes & Noble eBook reader, will be available end of November for $259.00. Barnes & Noble is taking pre-orders now at www.nook.com and in stores starting tomorrow. In celebration of nook's launch, Barnes & Noble will also offer a free eBook of Malcolm Gladwell's widely acclaimed best-seller, "The Tipping Point," for the first 10,000 customers to pre-order nook.
To learn more and experience nook, visit www.nook.com. Follow our eBooks and other updates on www.bn.com/twitter. To learn more about the free Barnes & Noble eReader software and Barnes & Noble eBookstore apps, visit www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks.
Product Highlights:
Designed for a Better Reading Experience
- Try, Then Buy - Once you sample for free, buying ebooks is easy. An entire book downloads wirelessly in seconds. Many bestsellers and new releases are just $9.99.
- No reading glasses required! Choose from 5 different font sizes so you can read with ease. The best-in-class E Ink ® display with a 16-bit gray scale offers great contrast with no glare or backlight making for hours of reading enjoyment.
- Just add an expandable Micro SD card , purchased separately, to add to your nook's 2 GB of internal storage space. Besides your ebooks, magazines and newspapers, add pictures, music, and personal documents. PDFs load directly and look great.
- Sample eBooks for free just about anywhere you are, on us. Browse eBooks, magazines and newspapers on AT&T's 3G Wireless Network or on Wi-Fi. And every Barnes & Noble has free Wi-Fi, so you can connect at lightning fast speeds.
- With 2GB of memory, nook stores up to 1,500 books, newspapers and magazines. Need even more space? Just add a memory card for storage of up to 17,500. An entire library light enough to take with you everywhere, so you'll never be without your favorites.
- Never lose your place. Use the virtual bookmark to bring you back to the last book you've read, right where you left off. If you forget your nook at home and are stuck on a bus, keep on reading with your iPhone™, or BlackBerry®, using our free eReader software.
- You can share nook to nook, but it doesn't stop there. Using the new Barnes & Noble LendMe™ technology... you will be able to lend to and from any iPhone™, iPod touch®, BlackBerry®, PC, or Mac®, with the free Barnes and Noble eReader software downloaded on it.
- Control your nook with an easy-to-use full-color touchscreen, created to work seamlessly with the crisp, clean E Ink ® display. Just use your finger to swipe through titles and tap open your next read.
- Visit the store, turn on your nook, and see what pops up on your screen. It's as simple as that. You will get exclusive content, special discounts and more. And soon, you will be able to read entire eBooks for free at your local Barnes & Noble.
Color Touch Screen for Easy Navigation
- nook feels great in hand and features a contoured, easy-to-hold back. About the size and weight of a paperback book, nook is thin, small and portable. Its best-in-class E Ink® Vizplex™ display is easy on the eyes with text as clear and crisp as a printed book. And with no glare or backlight and adjustable text size, you can read comfortably for hours. Our minimalist design puts the focus on the content, not the technology, welcoming the reader to dive right in.
Download eBooks Wirelessly
- The first-ever color touch screen for navigation on an eBook reader offers an immersive experience, inviting you to virtually browse through brilliant cover art, flip through an expansive library, or search using a virtual keyboard. The combination of color and touch on the beautiful lower screen make navigating nook intuitive and simple, even for the tech novice. nook presents the controls, navigation and keyboard you need, only when you need them.
Lend eBooks to Friends
- With fast 3G wireless and Wi-Fi access, nook is the most-connected eBook reader. Browse and instantly download eBooks, magazines and newspapers simply and seamlessly on AT&T's 3G wireless network, the nation's fastest, with no set-up required or additional wireless costs. Connect to the complimentary Wi-Fi, provided by the AT&T Wi-Fi network, in Barnes & Noble stores and download at broadband fast speeds.
A Continuous Reading Experience
- With nook's breakthrough LendMe™ technology, lend a wide selection of eBooks to friends free of charge, for up to 14 days at a time. Just choose the book you want to share and send it to your friend's nook or iPhone, iPod touch, select BlackBerry® and Motorola smartphones, PC or Mac® with Barnes & Noble eReader software.
- With ―Reading Now,‖ your virtual bookmark, nook brings you back to the last book you've read, right where you left off. And it works across a range of devices. If you forgot your nook at home, Barnes & Noble's free eReader software on your iPhone, select BlackBerry and Motorola smartphones or laptop lets you pick up where you left off, including annotations. And when you're reunited with your nook again, the Reading Now page will be updated and ready to go.
Over one million stories. Any time, anywhere.
Portability and Personalization
- Browse and buy from our extensive collection of over one million eBooks, including thousands of free titles, virtually anywhere you are. Get your favorite eBooks, newspapers and magazines, plus exclusive reads from Barnes & Noble, delivered via fast and free wireless, with no PC required.
Save Time, Money and Space
- You can also easily transfer PDF-format documents from your computer to access and read business documents, legal contracts and travel information on your nook. And transfer your photos to create custom screensavers.
Listen to nook
- Carry up to 1,500 eBooks using nook's 2GB of memory, and a virtually unlimited library using nook's expandable memory slot, which will hold up to 17,500 eBooks on each 16GB MicroSD card. Buying eBooks is simple and seamless. With just two touches, you'll be able to purchase and download eBooks in seconds. And many bestsellers and new releases are just $9.99, so you can enjoy more for less.
Protect Your nook in Style
- Using a standard pair of stereo headphones, plug into nook and listen to your favorite songs (MP3s), uploaded through your computer. Use the headphones or built-in speakers to enjoy listening to audiobooks, podcasts, lectures and more.
Experience nook at Your Local Barnes & Noble
- nook comes with a removable back cover which you can personalize from a selection of four additional great colors. You can also chose from a range of accessories by renowned designers and brands as kate spade new york, Jack Spade, Jonathan Adler, Tahari and others.
- Customers will be able to browse complete eBooks for free on nook at any Barnes & Noble store, whether or not the actual book is in stock, beginning later this year. Plus settle into the café and get exclusive in-store-only content, free eBooks, special offers and much more using Barnes & Noble's complimentary WiFi, provided by the AT&T Wi-Fi network.
Finally! Some important news!
What? Your douche test came back positive?
Welcome to last week.
Look_Around_You....you are the douche my friend.
Been waiting all day for this news. Finally a competitor to Kindle. Good news!
The way she was speaking I expected her to say "BLURAY!!!" at any moment. This Ebook reader is pretty cool, but the interfacelag issues need to be fixed.
I'm not your Pal, Friend!
@Look_Around_You
hahahaha u rock man .. !!
Hi I'm Kate! Come touch my nook...
I did it all for the Nookie!
I'm not your friend, buddy!
Someone tell me they cant transparently overlay that touch screen over the e-ink display. That is a lot of wasted space.
how much for kate?
I'm not your buddy, guy!
(gotta keep the fun goin' *shrugs*)
I'm not your guy, buddy!.....Oh wait!
nook? they should have called it the cranny.
@N900
yeah this is really fun. /s
douche
This looks awesome, I really want one.
Yeah this looks really good. Can we turn off the touchscreen to increase battery life?
It also has native PDF support.
Why are they so afraid to stick a backlight into these e-readers?
Why not? No backlight, I'm not ordering. A book light will not do. Is it that difficult to integrate a backlight?
@xcrunk: eInk is a reflective display, so it would be a front light, not a back light. That said, some Sony readers have side-LEDs, but I prefer the option of adding a light separately via a standard book-light or a cover with integrated light. The truly geekcore will probably go for one of those headband flashlights.
A backlight uses battery quickly, a backlight causes glare, a backlight is difficult to read in bright settings.
No backlight please. BTW how many books are backlit?
@xcrunk
wow, ive never seen the word "back light" use so many times in one given space. maybe if you say it enough, it will happen!
@xcrunk - you apparently have no idea how an eInk display work. Look it up on wikipedia.
If you understood it, and if you actually used it, you'd know that the lack of a backlight is an *advantage*. The eInk display looks and acts just like a printed page. It relies on external (ambient) lighting, so it's just as legible under direct sunlight as it is in a dimly lit subway station, or under a tiny clip-on book light.
I really want to be able to use a 40% off coupon.
It's impossible to put a backlight into an epaper screen. They're opaque.
I Like the price point....the kindle was to expensive...259$ sounds much more reasonable.
(All Kindle's worldwide hide in shame)
Sorry guys, I'm genuinely ignorant about e-ink displays. I didn't realize that a backlit screen is not feasible.
Thanks for explaining it to me. Perhaps I'll order this for my wife after all. Looks like a nice device.
Wow, can't wait to get my hands on the nooke-book reader!
I believe some of you have been brainwashed by the kindle's eink-needs-no-backlight propaganda. I have a samsung alias2 with backlit eink keyboard and it looks awesome! What's so different between backlight and front light? Haven't you used projectors before?
"Haven't you used projectors before?"
But I don't read in the dark. Try using a projector on a sunny day. See how that works out for you.
The case is, with backlit eink, you will be able to read in daylight AND darkness. BTW, what's the point of this daylight-only reading device if most geeks don't have much time to read paper books in the day?
Some seriously sexy gadgets are being released today, that iMac, the Magic Mouse (I hate the name by the way), and this.
Anyone have some extra cash they want to lend me?
Kindle Killer?
Genocide to the point the U.N. had to send in peacekeepers.
Ugh, I so hate the ' killer' phrase.
On features, without a doubt (and I'm saying this as someone who loves my Kindle 2). The interface looks significantly better (although a bit laggy), WiFi and lending are also is a definite pluses. The remaining question is what the content will be like. They're using Google books, which has a lot of titles, but most are public domain stuff. Kindle's got fewer titles, but they're the more popular ones. Kindle's really been struggling to break 400K though, in part I think because Amazon is demanding a pretty hefty cut of the sales price.
@Matt
From what it sounds, Barnes & Noble will have a book store as well. Which is great. I would assume it would be just as complete as Amazon's.
@ mad_scientist_03
"Ugh, I so hate the ' killer' phrase."
yeah we need a killer killer
"Kindle Killer?"
No.... It's not an Apple product, so it can't be a 'killer' Killers only kill Apple stuff since Apple is more innovative.
Joking aside, this will give the Kindle a run for the money. The 3G network will be crucial. If it's on Sprint or better yet, Verizon, it will totally roll over the Kindle and AT&T. If it's on Verizon, it's a total blitz attack on AT&T (with the Droid coming out).
Now I'm wondering, which was better today, Apple's "new innovative" stuff or this and the Droid?
Can't wait until they start Big Brothering me around!
"The rechargeable battery takes 3.5 hours to go from zero to full if using a wall outlet..."
Is this a normal amount of time?
I believe the Kindle takes 4 hours for a complete recharge.
Lagggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
I agree, very laggy, i don't know what these people take us for, this isn't the early 90's. Anything with lag is quickly noticed. Thats why the iPhone has become successfully because it is almost lag free
Agreed, the lag could really kill the awesome factor of the color screen.
Also to achieve triple awesomeness you'd need this, the Courier, and the Apple Tablet *drool*
Hmm, cool that it allows sharing and the battery life is definitely good news(with that LCD screen I think we were all thinking on the order of hours rather than days). I'd imagine that mp3 player will drive down the battery life a notch, but that's to be expected. Overall looks like a decent product; we'll see how well it does against the monolith kindle.
I think it's kind of silly how people hold a grudge against someone past a specific post. This particular comment is productive, I'd think.
Wonder why they're ranking you down?
Huh, on their website in the product comparison it says this is running android. I wonder how that works given the different screen arrangement and whether this means we'll see a barnes & noble android app.
"barnes & noble android app"
It's very likely one is right around the corner.