$149 WiFi-only Nook confirmed, 3G price dropped to $199 (update: official)
By Vlad Savov 
posted June 21st 2010 7:44AM
posted June 21st 2010 7:44AM
[Thanks, Paul]
Update: Barnes and Noble has now gone fully official with its new $149 Nook. The 3G version has taken a price drop to $199 as well, matching the pricing indicated by Best Buy. B&N is today also outing its firmware version 1.4, which allows the free use of AT&T wireless hotspots everywhere.
06/21/2010
Barnes & Noble Introduces NOOK™ Wi-Fi® and Lowers NOOK 3G Price,
Giving Book Lovers Greater Choice and Even Greater Value
At Only $149, Wi-Fi-Only Addition to NOOK Family is the Most Full-Featured, Low-Cost eBook Reader on the Market, Now Available Online at www.nook.com
Bestseller NOOK 3G is First Dedicated eBook Reader with
Free 3G Wireless and Wi-Fi Connectivity Available at $199
Latest Software Update to Both NOOK Models Offers NOOK Customers
Complimentary Access at All AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots and Improved Reading Features
New York, New York – June 21, 2010 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, is giving book lovers more choice and greater value in dedicated eBook Reading devices with the addition of NOOK Wi-Fi to the NOOK by Barnes & Noble family for just $149, and a new lower price for its award-winning NOOK 3G at $199. The new NOOK Wi-Fi offers all the great features of NOOK 3G – a color touchscreen for navigation and best-in-class E-Ink® display for a great reading experience – plus Wi-Fi connectivity. NOOK Wi-Fi is now available to order online at www.nook.com and www.bestbuy.com.
Barnes & Noble's new price for NOOK 3G marks the market's first under-$200 dedicated full-featured eBook reader that offers both free 3G wireless and Wi-Fi connectivity. And Barnes & Noble continues to enhance the eReading experience for all NOOK 3G and NOOK Wi-Fi owners through its latest 1.4 software update, now offering even more places to connect to Wi-Fi for free and faster access to the content they want to read.
NOOK Wi-Fi eBook Reader marries innovative technology and sleek minimalist design with Wi-Fi connectivity. This latest addition to the NOOK family gives customers the opportunity to take advantage of the proliferation of both in-home and public Wi-Fi hotspots, where they can browse the Web and shop the Barnes & Noble eBookstore of more than one million eBooks, periodicals and other digital content. With its latest software update for all NOOK devices (now available at www.nook.com/update), Barnes & Noble is offering all NOOK customers complimentary access to AT&T's entire nationwide Wi-Fi network, including Barnes & Noble bookstores which have previously been available to NOOK customers.
As part of the NOOK eBook Reader family, NOOK Wi-Fi features Barnes & Noble's breakthrough LendMe™ technology, enabling customers to share eBooks with friends for up to 14 days. NOOK Wi-Fi also offers the same great in-store features like Read In Store™ to browse complete eBooks in Barnes & Noble stores at no cost, and More In Store™, offering free, exclusive content and special promotions.
"People who love to read will find tremendous value with the new NOOK Wi-Fi, the most full-featured, low-cost eReading device on the market, and our bestselling NOOK 3G now at an even lower price," said Tony Astarita, Vice President, Digital Products, Barnes & Noble.com. "This expanded choice offers best-in-class, best-priced dedicated eBook Readers featuring eBook sharing, access to our vast eBookstore, great free and exclusive content and much more. And with expansion of fast and free Wi-Fi access beyond Barnes & Noble stores to thousands of AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots, we're bringing additional freedom and flexibility to all NOOK 3G and NOOK Wi-Fi customers."
Just like NOOK 3G, NOOK Wi-Fi features:
* Enriched eReading: Enjoy an immersive reading experience with color book covers to browse in your library or while shopping, fast page turns, multiple font choices and sizes and more.
* Dual displays: A fun, easy-to-use reading experience on the familiar paper-like 6" E Ink display which offers great contrast with no backlight or glare even in bright sunlight, and 3.5" LCD lower color touchscreen for navigation.
* Vast catalog of content: Shop the Barnes & Noble eBookstore for everything from classics to current bestsellers and download your content wirelessly in seconds. There are more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers available and free eBook samples.
* Lend to friends: Share a wide range of eBooks with friends for 14 days using exclusive LendMe™ technology.
* In-store experience: Access fast and free Wi-Fi connectivity in Barnes & Noble stores and enjoy the beta Read In Store feature to browse many complete eBooks for free, and the More In Store program, which offers free, exclusive content and special promotions.
* Games, music and Web: Play Chess or Sudoku, listen to your favorite songs or browse the Web to check news and email.
* Light and portable library: About the size and weight of a paperback, the 2GB device carries approximately 1,500 eBooks and offers virtually endless shelf space with expandable memory.
* Your B&N personal library: With Barnes & Noble's Lifetime Library™, Barnes & Noble digital purchases will be accessible on BN.com and can be enjoyed on the widest variety of devices. Your eBook library goes wherever you go, giving instant access to your existing Barnes & Noble digital library on your NOOK device, partners' third-party eBook readers and hundreds of computing and mobile devices enabled with free BN eReader software including iPad™, iPhone®, iPod touch®, BlackBerry®, HTC HD2™, PC and Mac®.
* Read for days: Long battery life means you won't need to worry about recharging. With Wi-Fi turned off, enjoy reading for up to 10 days on a single battery charge.
* Personalize with style: Customize NOOK Wi-Fi with one of the many stylish designer accessories available for all NOOK devices. Customers can choose from a range of classic and colorful accessories designed exclusively for NOOK devices by renowned designers kate spade new york, Jack Spade, Jonathan Adler, Tahari and others.
NOOK Wi-Fi follows NOOK 3G's stylish design and dimensions and is lightweight (just 11.6 ounces), making it easy to carry in a handbag, briefcase, backpack or suit jacket pocket, just like NOOK 3G. NOOK Wi-Fi also comes with a removable white back cover – NOOK's is grey – and you can personalize your device from a selection of four additional great back cover colors.
All NOOK 3G and NOOK Wi-Fi customers can also use the included USB cable to connect their device to a PC or Mac to transfer their personal files in ePub, PDF and PDB formats to their NOOK. Based on Barnes & Noble's open platform and Adobe technology partnership, customers can transfer and read personal files that utilize Adobe's latest digital rights management or are rights-free. Barnes & Noble's use of Adobe technology and ePub format also allows customers to read their digital content across a growing universe of devices.
NOOK Wi-Fi Available for Order Today
Just in time for summer reading, NOOK Wi-Fi is now available for purchase online at www.nook.com for $149 and will begin shipping this week. A bookseller at a Barnes & Noble store can also help customers place an order. NOOK Wi-Fi can also be ordered at www.bestbuy.com. Barnes & Noble expects NOOK Wi-Fi will be in-stock in select Barnes & Noble and Best Buy stores for immediate purchase later this month and rolling out to all stores later this summer.
NOOK 3G continues to offer both free 3G wireless and Wi-Fi connectivity to give customers more ways to shop on-the-go. NOOK 3G is in stock at Barnes & Noble stores and at www.nook.com with its new price of $199. NOOK 3G is also available at Best Buy and www.bestbuy.com.
Visit the NOOK counter at any Barnes & Noble store to see, hold and touch NOOK and learn more about eBooks and eReading from a knowledgeable Barnes & Noble bookseller who can help determine which NOOK eBook Reader best fits a customer's needs. Barnes & Noble offers the best opportunity to try before you buy in both Barnes & Noble and Best Buy stores.
NOOK v1.4 Update: Complimentary AT&T Wi-Fi Access and More
Barnes & Noble also announced that its latest NOOK v1.4 software gives all NOOK 3G and NOOK Wi-Fi customers complimentary high-speed access to AT&T's entire nationwide Wi-Fi network, including restaurants, hotels and additional locations across the country which can be found at www.att.com/go. So now, in addition to Barnes & Noble stores, all NOOK customers can enjoy free-high-speed access to browse the Barnes & Noble eBookstore and the Web on their NOOKs in thousands more places.
The latest NOOK software also offers a Go To Page feature, one of the most frequent enhancements requested by NOOK users, which allows customers to jump to a specific page number in an open eBook, an extra extra large font and performance enhancements to open eBooks even faster.
NOOK v1.4 software is now available via manual download at www.nook.com/update with additional information and easy-to-follow directions. NOOKs connected to Wi-Fi will receive an automatic NOOK v1.4 update upon syncing over the next week.
@cprender
Thanks for the info.
But, damn... That's what I was afraid of. I guess it's gonna have to be an iPad. I've got far too much invested in PDF tech books to switch formats now.
@christene why place a link that has nothing to add to the discussion?
we're reaching impulse buy territory. very nice b&n! hopefully I'll get one later in the
summer, steve jobs has my wallet tied up right now =o
I wonder how amazon will respond... I always thought the kindle was a little too pricey.
They sold me on one.
@Mr Pips same, I woke up and saw this, and whipped out my card and ordered one! Should be here the 28th!
WiFi only is all I need.
This is the first time I've been happy about owning a Pre Plus in months. Yay mobile hotspot!
@Cam
I completely agree. I didn't really understand the need to have a $260, feature-heavy ereader. i just wanted one to read. i was gonna get a Kobo, but with the Nook at the same price, i think it suits me just fine
I impulse bought one already
I recently purchased the Sony Pocket Reader (Woot) so I'm a little annoyed. The Sony is a neat device but it's limited in use due to the lack of Wi-Fi, weak online store, and no dictionary. You can download books from your local library (if it has Overdrive) but choices are limited and most popular books are "checked" out. I like the Nook's screen and the rubber backing but don't care for the touchscreen (feels tacked on). I'm hoping (and guessing) that this will force Amazon to drop the Kindle's price and add a Wi-Fi only version for similar prices. I will then strongly consider buying a Kindle as I'm more fond of Amazon than B&N.
I can't find for the life of me whether this 3G support is international like it is for the Kindle. If Nook can't support international 3G support - then I think Kindle still corners this market for usability. I was able to locate a US only 3G support map on the BN.com site, however they keep stating that it's supported on the AT&T 3G network. What does that mean? It is only usable on the AT&T 3G network or is this simply marketing advertising for AT&T?
@travelgeekette I am answering my own question, but I just found this:
Outside of US:
You cannot buy books from the nook - not on 3G and not on Wifi.
You can download the books you have already purchased. this can be done only on Wifi. 3G does not work outside of US
If you have a laptop/desktop, you can go to bn.com and buy ebooks. they show up in your account (or digital locker as it is called) and then you can use the nook to download the book over wifi - no need to connect the Nook to the laptop (you can download it via USB if you find that convenient - your call)
Bottom line - if you are outside of US and want to purchase books and dont have a laptop/desktop, buy a Kindle (and be ready to pay $1.99 per book if you are a US customer)
I purchased a nook a couple of weeks ago, got the $50 gift card. I chose the nook over the Kindle because all three of the public library systems around me will let you borrow ebooks but only in a format that the nook can read.
Plus the thing has been rooted already, and how long can it be until that allows access to the 3g radio. I'm guessing in a little while I'll have a device that's kinda like a myfi...
Early adopter of the Nook here, and it's so awesome I didn't (and still don't) mind paying $249 for it. I've gotten a lot of perks, free books, and free junk food and coffee from the BN Cafe that I don't really feel like I was had over the pricing.
I really liked the Kobo Reader and planned to gift one to my kid for Christmas, but for $149 and wifi inclusive, I'm going to have to go for the Nook.
And you don't necessarily have to purchase your books from BN. Sony, Kobo, Fictionwise, etc., can all be bought and sideloaded onto a Nook.
@MsCG1 Yeah I bought a nook a while ago and don't feel ripped off at all. I have read a lot of books since then and the free stuff from the BN cafe is always nice :)
I just bought a Nook yesterday. Of course. Somehow this kind of news is always the day after you buy a new gadget. I would have been happy with the wi-fi only one.
@greenmonkey You could just use your refund and place the order again.
@greenmonkey If you bought it at Best Buy "yesterday"...you can get a difference refund.
@HektikLyfe
I might go dig up the receipt at home and go back to B&N. I can ebay the $50 GC for close to the difference...I'm just really busy with school, work and my unmowed lawn, and it's kind of a hassle.
Aw man, if they put this one on sale in the future, or do another gift card promotion I think I'll be very tempted...
Ahhh...I just bought one last month. Dangit.
Good news on the hardware price break, but have you checked the price of ebooks lately? They are going up. One Kindle book I bought for my laptop a month ago has gone up from $12 to $20. Others are as much as paperback versions. (I don't have a Kindle, but bought this book to see what the fuss was about. I now have a week old nook.)
I wonder if the dedicated readers will start using the printer price model - cheap hardware, high prices on the consumables.
Granted, they just replaced the $50 bookstore gift card with a $50 price drop, but because I wanted to support the price drop, I bought a 3G nook this morning. Hopefully, it'll arrive between tomorrow and Thursday. Really looking forward to it.
I'm really loving my nook. I bought it back in May and B&N honored their gift card promotion when I brought in the receipt. I thought that was really cool of them.
Now let's hope for OTA sideloading of files in firmware 1.5!
@Drew T
I'm not sure why you'd want to sideload using wireless. It's not like USB is hard to come by these days...
There's been a poster for wifi only nooks up at the local barnes and noble for a week or so.