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Barnes & Noble bolstering Nook Video catalogue, bringing UltraViolet to the HD and HD+
Barnes & Noble is seriously beefing up its Nook ecosystem by striking deals with studios and other providers to bring a ton of new video content to its HD and HD+ tablets. Debuting alongside the slates, expected to start shipping in the US this week, thousands of SD and HD movies and TV shows from the likes of NBCUniversal, 20th Century Fox and others will be available for your consumption. Brits will get the same opportunity a little later, coinciding with the local release of the tablets closer to the holiday season. B&N won't force you to buy its hardware to enjoy the expanded catalogue, as it'll be releasing free Nook Video apps in the future to access the content from all platforms. What's more, you'll also be able to view UltraViolet video on the HD and HD+, meaning you can watch all that previously purchased content right from the get-go. This is certainly a huge bonus for consumers that have a big UV library, and coupled with all the new content, we wouldn't be surprised if Nook sales start stealing a little heat from the Fire.
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.
Over 60 Barnes & Noble locations victims of PIN pad tampering, customer data at risk
Book retailer Barnes & Noble this morning revealed that 63 of its stores have been victims of PIN pad tampering, following an internal investigation of "every PIN pad in every store" (just under 700 locations). B&N calls the tampering, "a sophisticated criminal effort to steal credit card information, debit card information, and debit card PIN numbers," and warns customers who may have swiped their cards at affected locations to alter debit card PINs as a precaution, as well as to keep an eye on credit card statements for false charges. B&N specifically note that its company database hasn't been breached, and purchases made through the B&N website, its Nook e-reader, and the Nook mobile apps are unaffected. According to the company, the PIN pads were implanted with "bugs" that allowed the recording of credit card numbers and PINs. To be extra safe, B&N disconnected all of its PIN pads on September 14 and is only allowing credit card purchases directly through cash registers. For a full list of affected stores, head past the break.
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.
B&N makes the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight's $20 price drop official
The Nook's $20 price drop is more than the whim of a few major retailers -- it's Barnes & Noble's new MSRP. Following Walmart and Target's recent discounts, the company's own website is now listing the glowing e-reader at its new $119 price. The reduction is almost assuredly in preparation for Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite, as B&N's announcement makes a point of bragging about the Simple Touch with Glowlight's included AC adapter and aversion to built-in ads. See the punchy press release for yourself after the break.
Target, Walmart list price drop for B&N's Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight to $119
Check those calendars. It's September 29th, which means, for those who follow the world of e-readers, that we're two days from Kindle Paperwhite day. According to Target and Walmart, it also means that Barnes & Noble's own illuminated e-reader, the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, is getting a $20 price cut, down to $119. That price puts the reader on par with the entry-level Paperwhite (no 3G, with ads). Let the battle of the front lit e-readers commence! Update: Check out some official pricing update info from B&N after the break.
Barnes & Noble Nook lands in Currys, PC World and Sainsbury's stores, furthers the UK conquest
Barnes & Noble must want no corner of Britain untouched by Nooks. Following its planned bookstore invasion, the American company is bringing both the Nook Simple Touch and its GlowLight cousin to Sainsbury's and Waitrose supermarkets, as well as Dixons Retail-owned chains Currys and PC World. When the e-readers arrive at the outlets' respective online and retail stores from early October onwards, they'll bring the Nook's reach to nearly 2,000 UK sales points -- not quite ubiquitous coverage, but more than double what we saw in our most recent check. About all that's left is to offer the Android tablets that have been conspicuously missing from Barnes & Noble's initial expansion strategy.
Barnes & Noble hits the UK, launches Nook Simple Touch, Glowlight and a pair of HD tablets
American bookseller Barnes and Noble is planning to broaden its horizons with a little international travel. At the same time the Kindle Fire HD makes its first tentative steps across the pond, the company behind the Nook has appointed Patrick Rouvillois to spearhead its global domination -- starting in the UK. As such, it's releasing the Nook Simple Touch, Simple Touch with Glowlight and both of its new HD tablets this holiday season to win the hearts and minds of cynical Brits. If you're a Brit (cynical or otherwise) and curious whether Jeff Bezos and chums have something to worry about (hint: most probably) then join us after the break.
Barnes & Noble announces Nook HD+ 9-inch tablet, we go hands-on (video)
Sure we heard some early rumblings about a new tablet from Barnes & Noble, and no, we can't say we were particularly surprised by the revelation -- after all, no one expected the bookstore to sit idly by and let Amazon own the holiday shopping season with its freshly souped-up Kindle Fire line. But the company did manage to offer up a few surprises with today's announcement -- biggest of all (literally, in fact) was the launch of a 9-incher, the Nook HD+. And where the HD borrowed some style cues from B&N's Simple Touch line, its bigger brother is the aesthetic descendent of Nook tablets past, borrowing that long, skinny body and even offering up a winking reference to the carabiner that lent such a dramatic distinction to past products. That said, we're not simply repeating the move from Nook Color to Nook Tablet here. The Nook HD+ is a far more significant upgrade, even as it pays a little tribute to its predecessors. Barnes & Noble's really gunning to make a splash in the budget tablet space this holiday season, and while the company's clearly betting on the smaller and cheaper HD to be the big seller, a company rep told us that he expects that HD+ to be a sleeper hit for the company. And certainly it's easy to see why the company's got some confidence this time around -- the device is sleek, fast, hi-res and affordable. But can it succeed in such a cutthroat market? Check out some impressions after the break and judge for yourself.
Barnes & Noble's Nook HD 7-inch Android tablet, hands-on (video)
It was roughly this time last year that Amazon's Kindle Fire showed us just how successful an aggressively priced 7-inch tablet could be, becoming, arguably the go-to gift of the last holiday season. This summer, Google upped the ante, showing the world that a $200 tablet could be more than just an OEM-ed content delivery device, enlisting ASUS to design a really solid piece of hardware at a seemingly impossible price. Barnes & Noble's journey in the space, meanwhile, has been decidedly more convoluted. In mid-October of 2010, the company gave the world the Nook Color -- a product with a wildly original industrial design, but decidedly limited functionality, which was, for most intents and purposes, an LCD-based color e-reader. Halfway through the following year, the device got a Pinocchio-like upgrade, transforming it into an honest-to-goodness tablet, apps and all. The device's celebration was cut short, however, eclipsed entirely by the arrival of the aesthetically (nearly) identical, but internally superior Nook Tablet. When Amazon announced the release of the Kindle Fire HD and all of its many variants, there was little question that Barnes & Noble had something waiting in the wings as well. After all, much of the bookseller's hardware game plan seems to revolve around going toe-to-toe against Amazon offerings, and since the company beat its chief competition to the market with a glowing reader, a Nook Tablet seemed all but inevitable. With this week's announcements, however, the company has managed to offer up some surprises -- for starters, there's the fact that it's doubled its efforts with the release of two tablets -- with the 7-inch Nook HD and the 9-inch Nook HD+. Then there's the fact that the company has clearly put great effort into the hardware this go-round, rather than offering up yet another rehash of the Color / Tablet lineage. Let's start with the Nook HD, shall we? Join us after the break.
Barnes & Noble launching Nook Video this fall with a little help from HBO, Sony, Disney, Viacom, more
We caught wind of an upcoming video offering from Barnes & Noble a couple of weeks back, as part of a tip on new tablet offerings from the company. And while we've yet to hear anything official on the latter, this morning the bookstore pulled back the curtain on Nook Video, a new service boasting support from heavy hitters like HBO, Sony, Warner Brothers, Viacom and Disney. The fruits of those partnerships include standard and high-def movies and TV shows like The Avengers, Brave, The Amazing Spider-man, Breaking Bad, The Daily Show and Game of Thrones, which can be watched on Nooks, and non-Barnes & Noble tablets and smartphones, courtesy of a forthcoming free app from the retailer, letting you pick up where you left off on different devices. The offering can also be linked to UltraViolet purchases, making it possible to add titles purchased with that feature logo to the Nook Cloud offering. Nook Video will be arriving in the US this fall, followed by a "holiday" release in the UK.
Source: Barnes & Noble prepping Nook Tablet followup with 'incredible display' for fall release
This week may belong to Amazon and whatever information the mega-retailer decides to drop on our heads tomorrow at its press conference in Santa Monica, but Barnes & Noble's apparently won't be letting the Kindle maker hog the spotlight for too long. We've been tipped off from a reliable source that there is, in fact, a successor to the Nook Tablet heading our way this fall. The device is said to be "super light," while packing an "incredible display," rocking 243 ppi. Industrial design on the apparently forthcoming tablet will be handled by Barnes and Noble favorite, Robert Brunner of Ammunition, who's already got some Nook design under his belt. All of this is said to coincide with a brand new video store from the company, in an attempt, no doubt, to take advantage of the aforementioned "incredible display." That's about all we've got for the moment, but we're told more information will be forthcoming from more official channels soon.
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.
Amazon Publishing inks deal with Ingram, opens e-book distribution to rivals
Amazon Publishing is continuing to broaden its distribution channels, as the New York-based imprint has formed a partnership with Ingram Content Group that will make the company's e-books available to competitors such as Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. As you may be aware, there's some uneasy tension between the rivals, as Barnes & Noble has previously removed Amazon's print editions from its retail shelves in response to the company's former e-book exclusivity in the Kindle Store. It remains unknown whether any of the competitors will indeed choose to sell Amazon's content in electronic form. It's also worth pointing out that because deal applies only to Amazon Publishing's New York-based imprint, the company's west coast division is excluded from the distribution deal. Regardless of how things shake out, it's encouraging to see Amazon extend the olive branch -- now let's hope the competition reciprocates.
Barnes & Noble bringing Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight to UK retailer John Lewis in the fall
Last week, Barnes & Noble spilled its plans to bring its popular e-reader to the UK through its own storefront, and now retailer John Lewis is getting in on the fun. This fall, the Nook Simple Touch and Simple Touch with GlowLight will be hitting the chain's 37 UK locations, offering up customers a chance to interact with the devices. John Lewis will also be selling the device through its site at an undisclosed date during the aforementioned season. No information on pricing yet, but other details can be found after the break.
Switched On: Trading places
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. If widespread rumors hold true, the coming weeks will see two of the most successful tablet vendors invade each other's screen size turf. Apple, which once rebuked the 7-inch tablet as unfit for normally proportioned human hands, appears ready to try its own hand at an iPad rumored to be on the larger side of the 7- to 8-inch range. Amazon, which lagged its bookselling rival Barnes & Noble in bringing out a color tablet, stands ready to introduce an infernal successor to the Kindle Fire that may include a display that is close to 9-inches or larger. It's not quite the first ride along the screen size escalator for either company. For Apple, a smaller iPad would fill in the iOS screen size gap between the iPhone and iPad. For Amazon, also rumored to be working on a phone, a larger color tablet would revisit the ground it explored to lackluster results with the Kindle DX. That product hasn't kept up with even e-paper-based e-readers with advances such as touchscreens and side-lighting, both of which are found in the latest Nook Simple Nook.
Barnes and Noble sees quarterly sales surge, losses fall to $41 million
Barnes & Noble has had a quarter worth remembering, bringing in $1.5 billion and reducing its losses to $41 million -- down from $57 million last year. Retail business was up, thanks to the closure of Borders branches and blockbuster sales of Fifty Shades of Grey, while College sales increased quarterly losses by $2 million to $14 million. While online sales fell 7.6 percent and the Nook business remained flat, the company saw digital content purchases skyrocket by 46 percent -- and the company couldn't produce enough GlowLight devices to satisfy demand. Wondering about the company's tie-up with Microsoft? There's still no news beyond that it hopes the new partnership will be up and running by the fall.
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.
Crackle's free movie streaming expands to the Nook Tablet, Android and iOS apps updated for TV playback
It may not have quite the catalog of Netflix (or the same HD quality), but Sony Pictures' Crackle streaming service does have one big thing going for it: it's completely free. It's also found its way onto plenty of different platforms (most recently Windows Phone), and that run has now continued with its expansion onto Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet (but not the Nook Color). What's more, while there's no release date confirmed just yet, Crackle says that the app is "coming soon" to the Kindle Fire as well. It's also revealed that the app has now seen 11 million downloads across all mobile platforms -- a figure that may now see a boost not only from the new Nook app, but from the just-updated Android and iOS apps, which each boast a redesigned interface and support for TV playback via AirPlay or HDMI.
IHS iSuppli: Apple iPad takes 69.6 percent of tablet brand market share in Q2, reader tablets take a bruising
An earlier portrait of the second quarter's tablet market share made it quite clear that the iPad was on a rebound, if it was ever in a slump to start with. All those numbers focused on platforms and not brands, however -- we didn't know how the individual makers were doing. If IHS iSuppli's figures are on the ball, there's even more of a discrepancy if you break down the period's results by manufacturer. The iPad staked out 69.6 percent of tablet shipments in the spring. That wasn't just an 11-point jump over a year earlier; it was a level of share Apple hasn't had since the Motorola Xoom was just cutting its teeth early in 2011. As for the rest? Transformer Pads kept ASUS growing, but it's not a pretty sight if you're making an Android reader tablet; both Amazon and Barnes & Noble shed roughly a point and a half each, which is no small amount relative to their size. Samsung also lost share by this after its deliveries of Galaxy Tabs mostly stayed flat. We'd add that there's some wiggle room as to real performance knowing that units shipped and sold aren't always one and the same. Most of these companies are leaving clues regarding upcoming tablet refreshes that might level the playing field, some not so subtle, but it's currently Apple's game to win.
