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Samsung's big Galaxy Tab 4 gets the Barnes & Noble treatment
We weren't terribly fond of Samsung and Barnes & Noble's first tablet mashup, but it seems at least a few people were. If you happen to fall into that category, congratulations -- that odd couple has something else that might be up your alley. The new Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 10.1 is technically the largest Nook ever released (only because Samsung already did the heavy lifting with design and production) and once again it's basically a stock tablet with BN apps like Nook Library and Nook Shop sprinkled into the mix for good measure. Everything else -- from the 1.2GHz Qualcomm chipset running the show, to the 10.1-inch display running at 1280x800, to the full eye-searing load of Samsung software tweaks -- is a well-known quantity so you'll know exactly what you're getting into. On the plus side at least, the Nook-ified version of the Tab 4 10.1 costs the same $199 as the bog-standard version (after instant rebate, at least) and comes with $200 of sweet, sweet content gratis. Interest piqued? You can pick up yours starting today, but you should only do so after thinking about it really, really hard.
B&N cuts Nook HD, HD+ prices this week, hopes you'll gift mom poetry and prose May 12
As if bringing the Nook HD and HD+ access to Google Play this week wasn't already a sweet deal, Barnes & Noble is temporarily slashing the prices for its two reading-focused tablets. The reductions will last until the end of Mother's Day, putting the 7-inch Nook HD 8GB at $149 and the 16GB at $179 (a $50 discount), with the 9-inch HD+ set at $179 for 16GB and $209 for 32GB (with $90 off). Compared to other options like the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 tablets, the deal may be enough to make up for lack of cameras and UI shortcomings on the Nooks. If your interest is piqued, you check out our reviews of both the HD and HD+, and hit up the source link if you'd like to snag one. Update: We'd also like to remind our UK readers that a similar limited-time offer was put in place a few days ago, dropping the price of the Nook HD from £159 to £129 and the Nook HD+ from £229 to £179.
PSA: Nook Simple Touch and Simple Touch with Glowlight now on sale in the UK
Barnes & Noble's arrival in the UK has been so well-telegraphed, you might be surprised to learn that today's the day the units actually launch. You'll be able to pick up a Nook Simple Touch or awkwardly-titled Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight from retailers such as John Lewis, Sainsbury's and on the company's new Nook.co.uk site. Access to Barnes & Noble's 2.5 million title e-book library will set you back £79 for the base model and £109 for the glow-in-the-dark version.
How would you change the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight?
Barnes & Noble's Simple Touch with Glowlight was here long before Amazon's glow-in-the-dark offering, and has found its way onto plenty of your nightstands. We thought it was great, except wishing it was cheaper and had 3G, and since the company has remedied the former if not the latter gripe. However, has the last six months of reading been totally blissful for you? We're inviting you to place yourself in the hirsute shoes of CEO William Lynch and tell us what you'd change if you were in charge.
Barnes & Noble continues British invasion, forges pacts with Argos, Blackwell's and Foyles
Barnes & Noble has continued its quest to stock the shelves of United Kingdom bookstores with Nooks, by adding Argos, Blackwell's and Foyles to the list of where you can get one. Those retailers will join John Lewis in carrying the Nook Simple Touch and its Glow Light-toting cousin, giving UK'ers nearly a thousand bricks and mortar sites to get one -- including bookstores at 55 colleges and universities. Those locations will join Barnes & Nobles recently launched online website in selling the e-readers -- but if you like to Touch before buying, the PR is after the break.
Nook headed for UK as Barnes & Noble goes international, dabbles in the Queen's English
Well, our English friends, today is a good day. Your choice in e-readers is about to get that much better as Barnes & Noble has decided to make your homeland the first stop on its highly-anticipated international tour. The Nook and its associated store will be making their big debut in the UK this October, though how exactly the prices will translate to British Pounds remains to be seen. At first, only the Nook Simple Touch and its Glow Light-equipped sibling will be available through the storefront, but we imagine it won't be long before the company's line of Android tablets make their own splash in the land of tea and James Bond. The e-book store will be launching with a rather respectable catalog of over 2.5 million titles, which should give the new comer a nice running start. You'll find PR after the break, but sadly it's a bit light on finer details. Don't worry, though, we'll be back with more info as we get it.
Barnes & Noble reportedly 'not involved' in tonight's big Microsoft event (Update: confirmed)
Rumors floating around over the weekend suggested that any tablet announcement made by Microsoft today could involve Barnes and Noble, its latest "strategic partner." According to Business Insider, the bookseller has stated that it hasn't got anything to announce alongside the Redmond company at today's not-so hush-hush event. We're contacting the bookseller to confirm, but what is Microsoft up to? Hit up our liveblog because we'll be there, ready to tell you precisely what goes down later today. Update: Confirmation has arrived. B&N told us that "we are not a part of their announcement today."
Microsoft invests $300 million in new Barnes & Noble 'strategic partnership'
Well, that's an interesting end to all those legal tussles. Microsoft and bookseller Barnes and Noble have decided to buddy-up in the face of competitors like Amazon and Apple. The strategic partnership -- Microsoft loves 'em -- would come in the form of a new Barnes and Noble subsidiary that deals with all things Nook, in addition to its education business. The bookseller would hold onto the lion's share at 82.4 percent, with the remaining 17.6 percent in Microsoft's control. The first benefit posited would be a Nook app for the incoming Windows 8. Barnes and Noble's Nook Study software would also benefit from a friendly boost on all that Windows hardware. Maybe all those other legal matches will resolve in similar warm-and-fuzzy business hook-ups -- but we doubt it.
NOOK for iPad now with Retina content, improved highlighting features
Better late than never, right? Only a couple of weeks after its rival Kindle, the NOOK app is finally ready to join the new iPad's pixel-packed party. While the main feature is obviously its Retina display compatibility, version 3.1.3 also brings an improved Highlight feature for books, the ability to read in one or two columns when in landscape mode and the enigmatic bug fixes. The refreshed app is up for grabs now, and you can snag it directly from your iPad or via the source link below.
How would you change the Nook Tablet?
It's hard not to make a series of reductive comparisons between the Nook Tablet and the Kindle Fire. After all, it's the conflict between Barnes & Noble and Amazon that frames these two 7-inch tablet / e-reader hybrids. When released, this one was $50 more expensive, but is technically more impressive: you get more expandability, it's faster and the screen is better for images and video. Statistically, at least three out of every ten e-book readers purchased were Nooks, so plenty of you out there use 'em. What we want to know, is what are they like to use on a daily basis? What little gripes did we not pick up during our week-long review and, if William Lynch was reading what you had to say, what would you change?
PSA: Nook Tablet can be repartitioned in-store, Android app adds comic support
Did you take umbrage with Barnes & Noble's efforts to hoard all your Nook Tablet storage for its own content? Well, the book seller has made good on its promise to reassign a portion of your 16GB hard drive, opening up 8GB for personal content and leaving 5.5GB for Nook Shop content. As we said before, you'll need to physically take your Nook Tablet to the bricks and mortar outlets to get the storage tweak. Readers that decided to go for other Android-laced tablets have also been gifted with a Nook app update, adding support for comics and related graphical literature -- just make sure that the slab is running Android 2.2 or higher.
Barnes & Noble offers to repartition Nook Tablet storage, concedes you may need more than 1GB
Are you one of the many infuriated with Barnes & Noble over how it partitioned the storage on the Nook Tablet -- leaving you just 1GB for you own files? Well, it looks like the company has learned from its mistakes. While only about 5GB is free to load with apps and media on the new 8GB model, just 1GB of that is reserved for Nook Store content. That's in stark contrast to the 16GB version which set aside a full 12GB for Nook Store downloads. Thankfully, B&N is offering to retroactively fix the boondoggle. If you visit a brick and mortar shop starting March 12th, a support rep will gladly help you repartition the internal storage, freeing up more than just one of the 13 available gigabytes for personal use. Having to bring it to the store is a bit of pain, but we suppose it's better that getting stuck with 12GB of Angry Birds and e-books.
Barnes & Noble unveils 8GB Nook Tablet for $199, slashes Color to $169
Looks like those murmurings of a lower-priced Nook Tablet with only 8GB of storage were right on, though, the reduced RAM was conveniently left out. In most ways it seems the updated Android slate is identical to its 16GB forebearer, except that by slashing the storage and memory in half Barnes & Noble has managed to meet the Kindle Fire on price -- $199. And, unlike the Fire, the Nook sports a microSD slot, so the loss of 8GB of storage isn't necessarily a huge deal. In addition to the new Nook Tablet, the Color is getting a rather significant price cut to just $169, making it cheaper than the Kindle Touch without ads. Looks like the brick-and-mortar stalwart has finally thrown down the pricing gauntlet. The lower-priced tab is available today both online and in Barnes & Noble stores, with other retailers to join the parade soon. Check out the complete PR after the break.
Nook Tablet coming to Walmart with less storage and a lower price tag?
One of the things that has kept the Nook Tablet from hitting Kindle Fire-like heights has been the price tag. Sure, $250 is super cheap for a rather well specced slate, but when the Amazon's entry is a full $50 cheaper it spells trouble. Now it looks like B&N is getting ready to tangle a little more directly with the online retail giant by cutting the Nook Tablet's storage in half to 8GB and slashing the price. Details are pretty slim at the moment, but it does appear that Walmart will be selling the device starting February 22nd, this Wednesday. Sadly, we'll have to wait till then to find out just how much cheaper it'll be and, whether or not the Color will be receiving a corresponding price drop.
ITC judge throws out Barnes and Noble's patent defense against Microsoft
Microsoft's patent dispute with Barnes and Noble is likely far from over, but the spat saw some movement today, when a judge at the International Trade Commission rejected the bookseller's patent misuse claim. In his ruling, ITC Judge Theodore Essex threw out B&N's argument that Microsoft is misusing its patents against Android, effectively nullifying the company's major defense against Redmond. Microsoft, as you'll recall, is targeting the retailer and its Nook e-reader for allegedly infringing upon a (declining) number of its Android-related patents. Essex's decision is still subject to review from a six-member panel, but Microsoft is already heralding his decision as an early victory. "Today's action by the ITC makes clear that Barnes & Noble's patent misuse defense was meritless," Microsoft Deputy General Counsel David Howard said in a statement. "This case is only about one thing -- patent infringement by Barnes & Noble's Android-based devices." Barnes and Noble, meanwhile, said it has no comment. A full trial on the case is scheduled to begin on February 6th.
Nook Tablet bootloader bypassed, Android 4.0 takes its first steps onto the platform
No points for calling this one, but it looks like Android 4.0 is well on its way to the Nook Tablet -- in a decidedly unofficial manner, of course. Just a few days after the tablet's bootloader was bypassed, developer Brandon Bennet (aka Nemith) has now apparently managed to get an early version of the Android 4.0-based CyanogenMod 9 up and running on the device, although you'll still have to wait a bit longer for something that's actually useable. What's more, some other developers have also managed to get the tablet to boot from a microSD card, and there's been some progress with Ubuntu on the tablet as well. Hit the links below for all the details and the latest from the xda-developers forum.
Barnes & Noble offers discounted Nooks with one-year subscription to The New York Times
In the market for an e-reader and a subscription to the digital edition of The New York Times? Then Barnes & Noble has a new promotion you might want to consider. From now through March 9th, it'll give you a Nook Simple Touch for free or a Nook Color for $99 if you also sign up for a one-year New York Times subscription at a rate of $19.99/month. That's a savings of $100 in both cases, and the subscription also includes access to the New York Times website in addition to the Nook version. Alternatively, you can get $50 off the Nook Tablet (bringing it down to $199) with a subscription to People, which will run you $9.99/month. Complete details are at the link below.
Barnes & Noble's Q2 earnings reveal Nook to be a $220 million business, Nook Tablet said to be fastest-selling yet
Barnes & Noble's second quarter earnings weren't all good news for the company -- it reported a net loss of $6.6 million and an ever-so-slight dip in total sales from $1.90 billion to $1.89 billion -- but it did have a fair bit to boast about on the technology side of things. Sales on its B&N.com website increased 17 percent year-over-year, totaling $206 million for the quarter, and the value of the company's Nook business (including devices and content) now stands at $220 million, up a full 85 percent. The company also revealed that its new Nook Tablet has been the fastest-selling Nook device to date, although it's not providing any specific sales numbers, noting only that it expects to sell "millions of devices" during its third quarter. Additional figures can be found at the source link below.
Nook Tablet forgets to use protection, lets outside apps in
In the annals of history, the scrappy fight betwixt the megaliths of e-reading and their respective tablet progeny will yield an underground victor. Much like the sleepy hacker hit that was the Nook Color, Barnes and Noble's big bro tab looks to be carrying on that legacy of unapproved use and this time there's a lot less microSD card swapping required. In fact, there's none needed at all, as the barrier for entry here is super low. All it takes to sidestep B&N's app store for a host of third party options (like Amazon's App Store shown above) is the tab's own browser. Yes, it's almost that simple and also kind of hit or miss. See, once you attempt to install an application via the web, a previously hidden settings menu should pop up asking for permission. Grant the slate access, find the app in your download queue, re-install it and, presto magico, it'll work and then... vanish from your homescreen. But don't fret, the app's still there, you'll just need to search for it using the "n" hardware button. Confused? Excited? Unsure of how to feel? Why not just give it a go and report back in the comments below.
Wisconsin library loans iPads for at home e-reading
If you thought hitting up the local library was far too Web 1.0 for your avant-garde lifestyle, you may want to check out the Eau Claire public library in Wisconsin -- it's not only lending books, but also, iPads. Each one of the 44 available tablets will be stuffed to the digital gills with 1,000 books, ten audiobooks and various apps for your reading (or, not reading) pleasure. Although other houses of learning have launched similar programs, this is the first of note to go with Apple slates for its e-reading experiment. If you're the proud owner of a library card and have less than $10 in fines, you too can get in line for one of the loaners. We wonder, does the old saying "you break it, you buy it" apply here?
