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Barnes & Noble Nook's first close-up (now with video!)
There she blows, we'll be getting hands-on and try to scrap together some impressions of the Nook if they let us touch it once this Q&A is done. The device is a bit thicker than some, and certainly looks minimal up front. The LCD is nice, but not overly bright, and that's about all we spotted before it was snatched away. Check out the gallery for a few more fleeting shots and a look at a non-functioning prototype for a better idea of the unit's shape. %Gallery-76013% Update: We got a closer look at the device, though they still haven't let us touch it. The LCD seems very "passive," and has a shallow viewing angle -- obviously to gather more ambient light and save on battery. The interface appears relatively intuitive, but we're a little confused and doubtful about the highlighting features -- it brings up a software d-pad on screen, and seemed a little unwieldy, though we'll only find out for ourselves when they actually let us get our grubby paws on the thing. Update 2: We've got some video! It's so very exciting, and can be found after the break. %Gallery-76016%
Barnes & Noble Nook dual-screen reader officially announced... for real
Barnes and Noble's Nook ebook reader might have made an unexpected debut a little earlier than planned today, but it's all official now. The Nook has a six-inch 16-level E-ink screen with a color touchscreen underneath for navigation and settings, and -- it's running Android! You can lend a book to a friend, and there's wireless on AT&T's 3G network as well as WiFi -- everything we saw earlier today. Pre-sales are live now at $259, and it'll be shipping in November. All B&N stores will soon be getting a big crazy display unit that showcases the device and a number of cases from all sorts of designers. And what's more, Nook owners can connect to B&N WiFi and browse complete ebooks in-store for free -- just like a real book. That's pretty great. Update: Malcom Gladwell is on stage, talking about syphilis in Baltimore. People are clapping -- it's a little odd. But the first Nook buyers will get a free copy of The Tipping Point, so that's nice. Update 2: "Ladies and gentlemen, the bar is now open." That's all for now -- we've got a Q&A session coming up, we'll let you know what we find out after the break. Update 3: Barnes & Noble just pinged us to say that they were wrong during the event -- the Nook's WiFi will work anywhere, not just in-store.
Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader leaks a bit early: $259, pre-orders are live (video)
Looks like all those whispers were true -- the "Android-based" nook is alive and well, and it's calling itself the planet's "most advanced e-book reader." Measuring 7.7- x 4.9- x 0.5-inches and weighing 11.2 ounces, the device includes a top e-ink display from Vizplex and a color touchscreen (3.5-inches) below, which supports one-touch control and swipe-to-browse books with full-color covers. The rechargeable battery takes 3.5 hours to go from zero to full if using a wall outlet, and B&N claims that it'll last for up to ten days if you flick the wireless to "off." Speaking of which, inbuilt WiFi (802.11b/g) and AT&T 3G is included, not to mention 2GB of internal storage, a microSD expansion slot, MP3 player, built-in mono speaker, 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, a micro USB port and support for EPUB, PDF and MP3. The nook also supports bookmarking, making notes, and highlighting passages, and the 'LendMe' feature allows users to lend books for up to a fortnight at a time to other e-readers, cellphones or computers. 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! %Gallery-76016% %Gallery-76013% %Gallery-75994%
Barnes & Noble 'Nook' e-reader with color touchscreen out Tuesday for $259, says WSJ (update: Best Buy connection?)
Looks like the cat's out of the bag. The Wall Street Journal's had a glimpse at what it says is an upcoming ad for Barnes & Noble's impending announcement, which just so happens to be a e-book reader with color touch screen (sound familiar?) dubbed the Nook. According to the article, it'll be out Tuesday, retail for $259, and will let users "lend e-books to friends." Very interesting, indeed -- so who's excited for tomorrow? Update: We can't say with 100 percent assurance, but a reliable source of ours claims that Barnes & Noble will be partnering with Best Buy for sales of the device, and units will actually be available this Thursday. That last bit sounds daring at best, as it's Windows 7 launch day, but you never know what folks will get up to these days. Stay tuned!
Spring Design Alex: dual-screen Android-based e-reader (Update: not for Barnes & Noble)
Whoa, what have we here? It's Alex, the dual-screen e-book reader from Spring Design looking very much like the Barnes and Noble device rumored for a Tuesday launch. It features a 6-inch E-ink EPD (electronic paper display) and 3.5-inch LCD running Google's Android OS for browsing the web or viewing video, audio, photos, and notes. It also packs a removeable SD card, speaker, headphone jack, and WiFi or 3G EVDO/CDMA and GSM radios. An interesting Duet Navigator feature even lets you toggle content captured on the LCD and present it back to the EPD to save on battery life. The device is planned for release sometime this year without any details on who might be involved in that exercise. Update: We just heard from Spring Design's PR person, Pat Meier Johnson. We were told that the Alex device above is not the rumored dual-screen Barnes & Noble reader, "this is an entirely different device." Judging by the hastily prepared web site coincidentally appearing on the eve of the B&N device launch, and the domain's registrar, Albert Teng, who has numerous patent applications (not patents granted) covering "electronic devices having complementary dual-displays," we'd say this announcement is quite possibly a desperate attempt to lay claim to intellectual property rights instead of a real product with real manufacturers and real content partners. We'll see when, or if, it launches. Show full PR text FREMONT, CA - OCTOBER 19, 2009-- Spring Design today announced Alex™, the first e-book based on Google Android featuring full browser capabilities and patented dual screen interaction technology, the Duet Navigator™. The Alex livens up text with multimedia links, adding a new dimension to the reading experience and potentially creating a whole new industry for secondary publications that supplement and enhance original text. Alex's dual-screen display design brings together the efficiency of reading on a monochrome EPD (electronic paper display) screen while dynamic hyperlinked multimedia information and third party input on its secondary color LCD screen, actually an integrated Android mobile device, opens a rich world of Internet content to support the text on the main screen. Alex is the first Google Android-based e-book device to provide full Internet browsing over Wi-Fi or mobile networks such as 3G, EVDO/CDMA and GSM. With its dual-screen, multi-access capability, it provides the entire Web universe as a handy reference library, prompting users to delve into its vast information base to complement, clarify or enhance what they are reading. Alex is the first truly mobile wireless e-book device that gives users their own personalized library on the go, whenever and wherever they need it. Spring Design pioneered its patented dual-screen device with 'touch and extend' capability in 2007, and has been working with major book stores, newspapers and publishers over the past two years to share its vision and the capabilities of the dual screen device. Alex brings together the efficiency of an EPD display with the responsiveness and richness of navigational convenience of the LCD screen. Its removable SD card gives users extensive storage, allowing them to expand their text with multimedia "add on" editions. Ideal for professional, educational and entertainment markets, Alex dynamically transforms the reader's experience with images, videos and notes inserted as 'Web grabs' or with custom text created by the user or other secondary authors pertaining to the subject being displayed. Users can create their own images and notes and capture them to augment the original text or just dynamically grab relevant content with Link Notes™, Alex's innovative multimedia authoring tool to enhance multimedia publishing. "This is the start of a whole new experience of reading content on e-books, potentially igniting a whole new industry in multimedia e-book publishing for secondary authors to create supplementary content that is hyper linked to the text. We are bringing life to books with audio, video, and annotations," said Dr. Priscilla Lu, CEO of Spring Design. "This gives readers the ability to fully leverage the resources on the Web, and the tools available in search engines to augment the reading experience." Alex™ features a 6" E-Ink EPD display and 3.5" color LCD display, earphones and speakers. A removable SD card will free up library space on the device while letting users archive content for future reference. The enhanced Android OS is optimized to support integration between the color and monochrome displays while preserving battery life. Users can capture and cache web content from their online experience on the LCD screen, and toggle to view it on the EPD screen without taxing the battery life. Browser features such as bookmarking, history, and security settings are built in and the device, with full Android browsing capability, is mobile-enabled with smart phone capabilities. Spring Design is currently in discussion with, and enlisting major content partners and plans to release the Alex device for selected strategic partners by the end of this year.
Plastic Logic teases QUE proReader with 8.5 x 11-inch touchscreen
Details are scarce, since the official launch won't happen until January 7 at CES next year, but Plastic Logic is looking to crash into the "pro" segment of the e-reader market (currently mostly occupied by the Kindle DX) with its upcoming QUE proReader. The unit uses E Ink Vizplex tech in a shatterproof display the size of a regular piece of paper at 8.5 x 11-inches, and has 3G wireless capabilities courtesy of AT&T and a business-centric ebook store at QUEreader.com which will be powered by Barnes & Noble. There's also a touchscreen interface, but it's unclear if that covers the entire display, or is something more akin to the leaked photos we've seen of the Barnes & Noble reader. The device is "less than 1/3-inch thick," and can handle PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents, including tools for "interacting with and managing the content," which sounds beyond the scope of most e-readers on the market currently. We'll have to wait and see how useful the interface really is, and how much damage (if any) that touchscreen sensor does to readability, but a bit of diversification in the ebook space sounds like a good thing on paper. Full PR is after the break.
Barnes & Noble twin-screen e-reader revealed early?
At this point, there's little doubt that Barnes & Noble will soon be joining the e-reader game. We've heard whispers through the grapevine, seen FCC documentation and now, renders of what the thing might actually look like. With October 20th rapidly approaching, Gizmodo has secured images that it claims are of the forthcoming device -- and the design certainly jibes with recent happenings. If you'll recall, a B&N-badged representative recently noted that an e-book reader with its logo on it was on track for a Spring 2010 release, and by golly, it would sport a color display. Plastic Logic later stepped forward to deny the claim, but if these images are legit, both parties might actually be correct; the dual-panel device would boast a traditional e-ink display up top with a multitouch panel beneath, the latter of which would undoubtedly lead to all sorts of shenanigans. So, is it Tuesday yet, or what?
Barnes & Noble hosting event on October 20: ebook a lock?
This rumor sure is shaping up nicely. We started with the FCC berth, then the Wall Street Journal weighed in with a meatier rumor, and now Barnes & Noble itself has sent out an invite to select media to a little get together touted as "a major event in our company's history." It's happening in NY on October 20, and at this point the larger surprise would probably be if there wasn't an ebook reader on display.
Plastic Logic deflates dreams, denies Spring 2010 release for color e-reader
We had a sneaking suspicion that it was too good to be true, and now Plastic Logic has stepped forward to officially kill our pipe dreams. Just days ago, the web was set ablaze when a Barnes & Noble representative mistakenly (or deliberately, for all we know) stated that a Plastic Logic-sourced color e-reader was on track for a Spring 2010 release. Today, the aforesaid outfit has stated that the video report was "inaccurate and the individual (who was apparently filmed while attending a trade show was not an authorized Barnes & Noble spokesperson) was misinformed." Continuing on, we're told that while "color is on Plastic Logic's roadmap, it is not on the map for the Spring of 2010." Welp, that settles that... unfortunately.[Thanks, Charlie]
Barnes and Noble 'confirms' color Plastic Logic e-book reader for Spring 2010 (video)
In no uncertain terms, a Barnes & Noble representative at what looks like the CTIA show says that a color (color!) Plastic Logic e-book reader will launch in Spring 2010. Now, we're not sure if Daniel Joresson is authorized to make announcements about its Plastic Logic partner but he did so nonetheless. The Plastic Logic e-reader will feature a color screen about the size of a paperback and runs the "Barnes & Noble e-book reader application." It's not clear, but it sounds like the B&N application will also be available for cellphones including the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android devices. Right, similar to the Kindle app. So how does this jibe with rumors about a 6-inch Barnes & Noble e-reader from Plastic Logic launching as early as next month? Easy, the first version will be grayscale while a new model featuring a color display will launch in Spring. In fact, Plastic Logic's own web site says that its color reader is "around the corner" and expects to be "first to market with a large, flexible color display" -- take that Sony and Amazon with your PVI built E Ink-based displays. Watch the flirtatious B&N reveal after the break. [Thanks, Tom]Read -- Plastic Logic FAQ (color reader)Read -- Video
WSJ: Barnes & Noble planning its own touchscreen ebook reader
Well, this isn't a huge surprise, since we've seen the rough outline of a nondescript, details-scarce reader from Barnes & Noble tucked away in FCCland, but the Wall Street Journal has "people briefed on the matter" who are saying the reader will be out possibly as early as next month. Word is the reader will have a six-inch E-Ink screen, with a touchscreen interface and virtual keyboard, and it will also have a wireless internet hookup to that great bookstore in the sky. With an IREX wireless reader already featuring the B&N ebook store, and a Plastic Logic device doing B&N exclusively, we'd say Barnes & Noble is certainly working this from a number of potentially redundant angles. It's unclear what particular innovation or distinction a Barnes & Noble-branded reader would bring, or who might build it, but our fingers are crossed for one particular avenue of one-upmanship: price. [Via Reuters; thanks Tom]
IREX unveils DR 800SG wireless ebook reader (updated with hands-on!)
IREX is currently, right this very second, taking the wraps off its big new splash in the ebook space, the new DR 800SG. The 8.1-inch unit has wireless connectivity courtesy of Verizon in the US and Qualcomm's Gobi multi-mode 3G for switching it up in the rest of the world. There's also 2GB of built-in storage, memory card expansion and stylus input ("true finger touch" is coming in Q2 2010 to a future product, right now you can only use the stylus, and a color reader is in the works as well for 2011), and IREX claims to have the fastest page refreshes in the biz. Perhaps most notable is that the reader is Barnes & Noble's first big play in the space, with support for the B&N eBookstore -- though the whole thing is an "open platform" with support from content from Newspaper Direct and LibreDigital stores as well, and format support of PDF, EPUB, Newspaper Direct, Fictionwise, eReader and TXT. Quite the mouthful, and IREX promises to follow wherever the market leads when it comes to DRM. The $399 device includes a leather cover and stylus in the box, and will be available this October in "select" Best Buy stores and will hit Europe in the first half of 2010. No wireless contract is required. %Gallery-73806% %Gallery-73809% We got to play with the new reader briefly, and weren't quite sure how to feel. On one hand, it's another sexy, slim reader, with a pretty great and fast e-ink screen. On the other hand, the interface is totally minimal and a little nonsensical without the stylus. A bar on the left side gives you a "tactile" method of pushing right or left to turn the page, but it feels pretty janky. Notetaking isn't enabled currently, so you can't draw on the screen, making the stylus feel a bit of a burden, not a boon -- the closest you get to text input is tapping away at an onscreen keyboard. We're glad IREX avoided the visibility-hampering pitfalls of Sony's touchscreen ebook technology, but perhaps some more thought should've been put into the alternative. We didn't do any heavy downloading, but the reader takes a very long time to create a connection -- a good 20-30 seconds -- which might've been due to the concrete bunker we're hanging out in, or just a sign of a slow processor, we're not sure which. We love the "openness," and it's great to see so many format alternatives right out of the gate, but we're gonna need more time with the DR 800SG before we're sure it's worth the plunge. %Gallery-73812%
iRex DR800SG e-reader brings global 3G downloads -- Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, and Verizon partnerships
Get ready to add another big time e-reader partnership to the list: iRex is set to announce later today a deal that will bring its latest DR800SG E-Ink slab to Best Buy with unlimited Verizon 3G data on board. The $399 e-reader with 8.1-inch touchscreen arrives as rumored with the ability to wirelessly download digital books from Barnes & Noble's e-bookstore in addition to over 1,100 newspapers from Newspapers Direct -- it'll also handle any books downloadable in the ePub format. The 3G goodness comes via a Gobi radio from Qualcomm -- right, that means HSDPA data too, allowing owners to download data while traveling abroad. Take that Kindle. The DR800SG is expected to arrive in US Best Buy stores next month. We'll be going hands-on with it later today where we'll have plenty of pics and the full suite of specs. Update: iRex has dropped a picture onto its home page. Is that stylus to scale?[Thanks, Tom]
Barnes and Noble e-book reader hits the FCC
Barnes and Noble, the United State's largest book seller has filed with the FCC its own e-book reader, as it's insinuated in the attached Agent Authorization Letter. The dipping of the toes into the digital text industry isn't as peculiar as, say Discovery Communications, since Barnes and Noble already has some known precedence in the e-book reader market, partnering with Plastic Logic as their "exclusive eBookstore provider" -- this may very well be the Plastic Logic reader, but there's no indication one way or another. Chances are it'll be some time before we know, as all external and internal photos are under a confidentiality extension for 180 days as of September 3rd, or about six months from now. See you in Spring 2010!
eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers
An e-book (or ebook, or eBook, depending upon who you ask) is the digital equivalent of a paper book. According to KiwiTech, the publishers of Classics2Go, the market for eBooks has increased more than 60% over the last six years and growth from this point is expected to be very strong. We can reasonably connect the start of this burgeoning market to the release of the Amazon Kindle in 2007. Strong sales convinced some wary readers that this was a viable option. You could carry a few hundred books under your arm, and the reading experience was, well, acceptable. Going on a long trip? Wouldn't it be nice to take about 20 pounds of paper out of your luggage? 2007 also marked the introduction of the iPhone; it took about a year for eBook apps to appear on the iPhone. Now there are so many of them that finding the right one for your purposes can be a confusing prospect. I would like to clarify all this a bit by categorizing the four types of eBook apps, at least so far, and letting you know what you can expect from each. In deciding upon an eBook reader you need to consider: what sort of material you will be reading, how much you are willing to spend (if anything) and the quality of the viewing experience. Last year, Andrew Kazmierski and Phill Ryu released Classics (iTunes link). Their idea was to take a bunch of books in the public domain, 22 in the current release, and control all aspects of the user experience. We covered the first release of Classics upon its original release when its price was $2.99. Since then, the price has dropped to .99 and the number of books has increased. This app looked so impressive that it was featured in an Apple iPhone commercial. Upon launch, the reader is presented with a nicely rendered wooden bookshelf displaying colorful dust jackets. Click on a book and start reading. There is no wait, since all the books were downloaded with the app. Future updates bring more books. The books are all the kind of classics that are on school reading lists ranging from Frankenstein and Dracula, to Hound of the Baskervilles. The feature set is slim. Tap the right side of the screen or swipe right to left and the sepia toned pages turn using a pleasing animation. There are two buttons on the top of the screen. One brings down a maroon and gold bookmark and sends you to the bookshelf. When you click on the book again, you are brought to where you left off. The second button takes you to a table of contents. The bottom of the screen tells you the name of the chapter you are reading and what page you are on. The top of the screen displays the title of the book. Illustrations in books like Alice in Wonderland are nicely rendered, and the text is attractively formatted. A change in color of the title bar gives you an idea of where you are in the book.
Barnes & Noble switches to free WiFi, just the thing for your e-book reader
Barnes & Noble and AT&T already went ahead and offered free WiFi to iPhone users (and everyone else, albeit inadvertently) last year, and it's now finally gone and given up on those pesky subscription fees altogether. As the pair of companies jointly announced today, that new and welcome change is now already in place at all Barnes & Noble stores in the US that offer WiFi, and the bookstore is not-at-all-coincidentally taking advantage of the opportunity to promote its recently launched eBookstore, to say nothing of its forthcoming e-book reader. Last we heard, they still have actual books and stuff there, too.
Barnes & Noble partners with Plastic Logic, becomes "exclusive eBookstore provider" for its e-reader
It's not exactly an e-book reader of its own as previously rumored, but Barnes & Noble's announced an alliance with Plastic Logic in which it'll serve as the "exclusive eBookstore provider" to the long-in-development e-reader, which unless we're playing with semantics here means any and all digital literature you're wanting to purchase on-device will have to come from BN. According to the press release, downloads from Google's public domain archives will also be made available gratis, and as for the enigmatic 8.5 x 11-inch slate, it's still reportedly on track for an early 2010 launch. Much in the vein of Amazon's more recent maneuvers, the ole' brick-and-mortar retailer is taking what it's calling a device-agnostic approach, with apps already available for iPhone and iPod touch, Blackberry, Windows, and OS X. Practice your reading skills with the presser after the break.Update: A few added details from Barnes & Noble's conference call. The company says it'll be announcing support for other products in the future (not Kindle or Sony e-reader) and that it has no announcements at this point as to whether it'll be selling Plastic Logic e-readers in store, exclusive or otherwise.
Barnes & Noble working on an e-book reader of its own?
Everyone else is doing it, so why not Barnes & Noble too? That's the talk following last week's CTIA at least, where mysterious "insiders" were reportedly abuzz about the possibility of a B&N e-book reader that, like the Kindle, would supposedly be tied to a cellular carrier for some Whispernet-like connectivity. According to one of those insiders, Barnes & Noble had apparently first been in talks with Verizon about a partnership, but those seem to have fallen apart for one reason or another, and it now looks like Sprint (Amazon's partner, coincidentally) is the top contender. Some "observers" apparently still aren't ruling out AT&T as a possibility, however, especially in light of its recent expression of interest about getting into the e-book reader game. No word about the actual device itself just yet, but there's no shortage of ready-made options out there (like Plastic Logic's e-reader above) should B&N decide to go that route.[Thanks, Tim]
AT&T WiFi hotspots free to iPhone owners, anyone with a brain
Now that AT&T has full control of wireless hotspots like Starbucks and Barnes and Nobles, it looks like they're doling out freebies to their favorite customers: iPhone users. Apparently, if you've got one of Apple's devices, you can hop on the WiFi networks for exactly zero dollars provided you enter your phone number at a login screen. Great for iPhone owners, but a raw deal for everyone else, right? Not so fast, apparently a dumb hack gets you the service on the house too -- just switch your browser's user agent to Mobile Safari, and presto! Free internet. We can't imagine this is a hole that won't get plugged real fast, so get it while the gettin's good.[Via TUAW]Read - AT&T Providing Free Wi-Fi Access to iPhone UsersRead - Hotspot hack
Barnes & Noble offers up deals on HD DVD titles
Wondering when someone would one-up Amazon's fairly continuous stream of deals on HD DVD movies? Today's your lucky day, friends, as Barnes & Noble is currently offering up a wide selection of flicks at 50-percent off -- but the fun doesn't stop there. The discounts get even deeper if you're a B&N Member, and there's an additional percent-off coupon floating around if the deal just isn't sweet enough. Go on, add a few more to your collection -- what else were you gonna spend your dough on this weekend?[Via SlickDeals, thanks Andrew M.]
