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Nook Tablet gets torn down, mysteries of the carabiner unlocked
After last week's Kindle Fire teardown, Barnes & Noble's new slate must have been quaking in its boots. The Nook Tablet just had its moment under the knife, courtesy of screw driver-packing site iFixit. There's really not a whole heck of a lot of surprising things happening inside the $249 device, according to the site. There's a battery that's still emblazoned with a "NOOKCOLOR" under the model number, in spite of the new tablet's better battery life. And then there's 16GB of storage made by SanDisk and that 1GHz dual-core processor. Lots of shots of tablet guts in the source link below.
Switched On: Between a Nook and a hard place
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In the 1988 comedy Coming to America, a blatant McDonald's rip-off named McDowell's draws the legal ire of the empire built by Ray Kroc. In explaining his pathetic defense that includes noting that McDowell's uses golden arcs instead of golden arches, the eatery's manager notes that while both the Big Mac and his Big Mick both include the 1970s jingle-immortalized ingredients of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, the McDowell's flagship burger bun has, in fact, no sesame seeds. This state of differentiation isn't a far cry from what characterized some of the earliest 10-inch Honeycomb devices -- a few fractions of an inch of thickness, a higher-quality display, a full-sized USB port, an hour or two of running time and some bundled apps constituted how many of the tablets asserted their competitiveness. Of course, there was the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer with its keyboard add-on and its follow up, the Eee Pad Slider, which finally brought an integrated one. But whether it's been from a lack of options for manufacturers or disadvantages of the overall Honeycomb approach, larger Android tablets have made limited inroads versus the similarly sized iPad and are now going after it more aggressively on price.
Kindle Fire vs. Nook Tablet...fight!
There seems little doubt that the Kindle Fire will prove one of the holiday season's biggest hits. At $200, the budget tablet will no doubt prove too good a deal to pass up for many consumers not ready to make the price commitment to the industry-leading iPad or a top-tier Android tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Of course, the Fire wasn't the only budget Android tablet to launch this week -- heck, it wasn't even the only budget Android tablet launched by an e-reader producer. Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet also, conveniently, hit stores earlier this week. The company took what it got right with the Nook Color, souped it up a bit internally and wound up with a solid competitor to the Fire. So, which of these products should budget-friendly gadget shoppers pick up this holiday season? We take a look at their hits and misses after the break.
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.
Nook Tablet limits internal storage for non-B&N purchased content to 1GB
Well, this is definitely a bummer. Barnes & Noble has spent a fair amount of time talking up all of the Nook Tablet's internal advantages over the Kindle Fire, a list that includes 16GB of storage to the Fire's 8GB. That particular spec may not be quite as good as it looks on paper, however. It seems that Barnes & Noble is currently limiting internal storage on the Android slate to 1GB of content not downloaded directly from B&N. Bummer, right? Especially for those expecting to store their multimedia content on the device. It's not all bad, though. Keep in mind that, unlike the Fire, the Nook's got a not-so-secret weapon -- expandable memory via a microSD card slot located behind the tablet's distinctive loop. We've reached out to B&N for comment, and we're guessing a firmware update will remedy this PR nightmare in 3... 2... 1.... Update: Barnes & Noble confirmed that the above numbers are correct, but added that future multimedia download plans from third-party vendors will utilize the space currently devoted to B&N content only.
Nook Newsstand getting Condé Nast publications (except Vogue)
After all of our tablet stories, the first question people ask is "But will it run Vogue?" Fortunately for all of you who are desperate to strike a pose and let your bodies move to the music, it won't be long now. Condé Nast is bringing 17 of 18 titles to Nook Tablet, the only omission being Vogue; which is coming in early 2012. Until then, you'll be able to enjoy the rest of the publisher's stable including Glamour, GQ, Teen Vogue and The New Yorker from the end of November. You can purchase individual issues or an annual subscription, print subscribers will get the digital edition free of charge and anyone who does pay will get a fortnight's trial. The only downside to the trial is that it's significantly shorter than the three months offered by the same publisher on the Kindle Fire. There's plenty more details after the break, where we've got a press release all waiting for a closeup.
Nook Tablet comes off the shelves one day early for one lucky customer
Now, we can't promise you'll have the same luck as our fortunate tipster if you wander out to your local Barnes & Noble, but it does seem that at least one location is handing over Nook Tablets a little bit early. Not to be outdone by its bitter rival, the Kindle Fire, the slate with the brick-and-mortar bookstore roots also started moving 24-hours ahead of its scheduled November 16th release -- though, in slightly less official fashion than Amazon's device. If the image of the unboxed slab above isn't enough to convince you, check out the bonus receipt pic after the break.
Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet unboxing and hands-on (video)
Look what we got in our grubby hands -- it's the new Nook Tablet, Barnes & Noble's attempt to elbow in on this holiday season's crowded tablet landscape. At $249, the slate is being positioned as a direct competitor to Amazon's budget Kindle Fire. Thus far, the device has yet to capture the public's imagination in the same way Amazon's tablet has -- due, at least in part, to the many similarities between it and last year's Nook Color. Externally, the Tablet is virtually indistinguishable from the Nook Color. It's got the same dimensions (8.1 x 5.0 x 0.48 inches), making for a tall and narrow display. It also rocks that same distinctive bar looping out from its bottom lefthand corner. Barnes & Noble has opted for a lighter silver color scheme here, instead of the Nook Color's dark gray shell, and has managed to shave a bit of weight from the newest Nook -- so it comes in at 14.1 ounces, in spite of its souped-up internals. At 0.48 inches, the tablet is thicker than both the iPad 2 (0.35 inches) and the Kindle Fire (0.45 inches), if only just barely in the latter case.%Gallery-139473% %Gallery-139477% %Gallery-139478%
Comics on the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet hands-on (video)
Way back in 2000, cartoonist turned comics theorist Scott McCloud discussed infinite canvas in his book Reinventing Comics. The concept, simply put, is that electronic mediums afford artists an infinite space on which to create their work. Cartoonists should, therefore, take advantage of this new found freedom. Of course, old media companies don't operate that way, and for the past decade or so, the quest has revolved around finding the most ideal way to repurpose existing comics formats for new devices. The clunky interaction and relative lack of portability made PCs less than ideal methods for this consumption. On the flip side, smartphones are just too small for anything but a panel-by-panel reading. Devoted e-readers, meanwhile, didn't do much better, thanks to slow rendering grayscale e-ink screens. The iPad hit the sweet spot, with its portable form factor and large, vivid display. The charge was led by Comixology, through its devoted app and market and apps designed for the industry's largest publishers, Marvel and DC. Reading comics on a device was finally easy enough to convince many physical media devotees make the leap to the digital realm. There are still some roadblocks, however: for one thing, there's that whole $500 starting price. If your primary objective in picking up a tablet is reading comics, that's certainly enough to dissuade all but the richiest of riches.
Barnes and Noble tosses gloves aside, speaks its mind on Microsoft's Android licensing initiative
It looks like Barnes & Noble is mad as hell and just isn't gonna take it anymore. In a strongly worded letter to the Department of Justice, it's called Microsoft out as a "Patent Troll" and "Bully." When Redmond rolled up with its usual ultimatum: license our Android patents or we'll sue you, B&N demanded to know which patents the Nook was meant to infringe -- many of them trivial. The software giant demanded that as well as licensing fees, it would have veto power on design features and hardware requirements for future devices, which prompted the bookseller to contact the DoJ. Whilst you should take everything with a pinch of salt (and realize that both companies could be rattling the sabers), it's worth remembering that companies won't start calling in government agencies until no other viable options exist, which means this saga could be running for months, if not centuries. Head on down to our source link for all the gory details, replete with copies of the filings made.
Amazon adds Hulu Plus, ESPN ScoreCenter to Kindle's Android apps, Nook Tablet loses its edge
Not sufficiently amped up for the impending release of Amazon's first tablet? That could very well change as the Seattle-based company's just made its thousands-strong app pot a little sweeter. After reminding the product-buying populace a few days ago that the newly birthed Kindle Fire is, indeed, a tablet with access to a boatload of Android apps, Bezos and co. are now upping the slate's ante by announcing the availability of Hulu Plus and ESPN ScoreCenter. It's an obvious swat at the Nook Tablet's two greatest lures and could sway indecisive customers back from the brink of Barnes & Noble's beguiling clutches.
The Engadget Interview: Kobo's Michael Serbinis
Kobo celebrated the launch of its eReader Touch Edition with a decidedly low-key event, inviting a handful of journalists to a dimly lit brunch place in midtown Manhattan. The company's CEO Michael Serbinis presided over the event, framing his company as a David in the fight against e-reading Goliaths. It was a stark and fitting contrast to the Nook event that Barnes & Noble would hold a few days later and 40 blocks away -- not to mention the increasingly grandiose productions orchestrated by Amazon's Jeff Bezos. In spite of all of this, the company has managed to maintain a high profile in the e-reader space, as it did this week, when between the announcement of the Nook Tablet and the release of the Kindle Fire, it let the world know that it had been acquired by Rakuten, something of an equivalent to Amazon in its native Japan. The announcement followed the bankruptcy and subsequent closure of once giant bookstore chain Borders earlier this year, a company to which Kobo had long been closely tied. In a conference call last night, Serbinis denied a connection between these events, insisting instead that the deal just made good business sense for the Canadian company. How will the deal affect Kobo? Does this move ultimately impair Serbinis's ability to frame his 200-odd person company's battles as an old testament fight against corporate giants? Or does this simply offer a bit of assistance in its sometimes uphill push for market share? We sat down with the executive to discuss the acquisition, the crowded tablet space and the future of e-reading.
Nook Tablet's Read and Record hands-on (video)
The multimedia features on the new Nook Tablet mean more than just watching video and listening to music -- they actually give a bit of a boost to the reading experience, as well. One of the best implementations of this is the new Read and Record feature, an update to the Nook Color's Read and Play feature, which takes advantage of the Tablet's new mic to let users (parents in most cases, we assume) record narration to children's books. It's a simple but clever addition that certainly drives home the product's value for families. The feature lets you record custom narration on each page of compatible texts, offering up the words as a script. Once recorded, the text can be saved with a simple icon, so kids can play it back themselves -- in the case of our hands-on demo, it was a gingerbread man (fitting, perhaps, given the OS we're working with). The feature is equally simple to use on both sides of the equation, and is a nice little bonus for parents who, for whatever reason, can't always be around to read to the kids. Video after the break.
Nook Simple Touch upgrade hands-on (video)
The Tablet may have gotten most of the glory at today's Nook event, but there was plenty of love to go around across the line. The Color got some solid multimedia upgrades, courtesy of Hulu Plus, Pandora, Rhapsody and the like, and the Nook Touch -- now known as the Nook Simple Touch -- received a few bumps of its own, beyond that price drop to $99. The Nook Simple Touch 1.1 software upgrade brings among other things, longer battery life -- which, for obvious reasons, we can't actually test effectively at the moment. According to B&N, you should get two months of battery life reading an hour per day post-upgrade, versus up to two months reading half an hour each day pre-upgrade. The upgrade also promises a crisper display, and holding a pre- and post-upgrade Nook next to each other, the difference is certainly detectable. It's not a huge difference, but the slightly darker text does improve the reading experience, over all. Also on the list of improvements is a faster turn rate. Indeed, there is a slight difference, with the updated reader scrolling through a bit faster (though the two readers did go back and forth as we had them scroll through a book) -- the upgrade, according to B&N, will save you a fraction of a second per page, so don't expect to be wowed on that front. Both readers have roughly the same refresh rate, doing a full page refresh every six pages or so. All in all, some welcome changes to a nicely discounted reader, making the Nook Simple Touch a solid contender for this holiday. Video of the page turns after the break.
Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet gets real, we go hands-on (video)
Sure, we can't say we didn't see this coming -- Barnes & Noble today launched its answer to the Kindle Fire. The new Nook Tablet certainly isn't all that new from an aesthetic standpoint, compared with the Nook Color. Walking into a store blind, it would be awfully tough to distinguish the devices -- though the Tablet is bit lighter, color-wise. It's also lighter in terms of actual weight, shedding an ounce from its predecessor -- a fact that's really only noticeable when holding both devices in your hand. The Nook Color certainly did well for the company, becoming a top seller the previous holiday season, and Barns & Noble clearly took an "if it ain't broke" approach here... It really is a nice form factor, easy to hold in a single hand for reading and watching video. The company also promises that a case with a built-in stand is coming, so you can take full advantage of that wide screen when watching longer videos on Netflix or Hulu Plus. The Power button is located in the top left and corner, with volume on the right. The microSD slot can be found just behind the Tablet's distinctive metal bar. What separates Barnes & Noble's two higher end readers is largely internal. Unfortunately, the products being shown off at today's event weren't quite ready for prime time. We managed to see a bit of video demoed on the thing, and certainly the screen looked quite nice as it played back the trailer for J Edgar and flipped through the pages of a Spider-Man comic. Unfortunately, we're going to have to spend a bit more time with a final version of the product before we feel comfortable recommending the Tablet, given its $50 premium over both the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire. Check out a hands-on video with the device after the break.%Gallery-138651%
Barnes & Noble launches in-store Nook stations
The e-reader competition is clearly *ahem* heating up this holiday season. Barnes & Noble today announced the launch of a brand new Nook Tablet and offered up some nice discounts on its existing Nook Simple Touch and Nook Color devices. So, what kind of competitive advantages can old B&N possibly give over a mega-online retailer like Amazon? Stores! Hundreds of them! The company is harnessing its brick and mortar locations to give users a place to get friendly with its new devices. Check out some shots of the Union Square shop in New York City below. %Gallery-138642%
Barnes & Noble makes $199 Nook Color, $99 Nook Simple Touch official
Not that it wasn't official the moment that Best Buy lopped $50 off of the thing, but those with any lingering doubts with regards to Barnes & Noble's intentions to make the now-dated Nook Color cost competitive with with the Kindle Fire can now consider themselves amongst the believers. The company pulled the trigger at today's Nook event in New York, pricing the color reader-turned-tablet at $199 -- a nice drop from its introductory price of $249. Also on the price cutting board is the touchscreen Nook -- now known officially as the Nook Simple Touch -- which is priced at $99, putting it more on-par with the likes of the latest Kindle. And best of all, says Barnes & Noble, "no annoying ads." Ouch.
Nook Color goes multimedia with Hulu Plus, Pandora, Rhapsody, more
Sure, today's Barnes & Noble event is all about the Nook Tablet, but don't think for one second that the lowly old Nook Color isn't getting any love. As expected, the color screen reader being hooked up with some upgrades of its own -- there will be 100 enhancements in all, according to Barnes & Noble. Central to the upgrade is content from top-tier content streaming sites like Hulu, Pandora, Grooveshark and MOG. Looks like it's not time to count the Nook Color out just yet.
Barnes & Noble launches Nook Tablet, lights a fire under Amazon
Yep, we had a feeling this one was coming. As expected, bookstore mega-chain Barnes & Noble has launched its answer to Amazon's Kindle Fire (and to a lesser extent, Kobo's multimedia Vox slate) -- also as expected, the thing looks an awful lot like its predecessor, the recently discounted Nook Color, right down to the metal bar on the bottom corner. Granted, B&N did already make the leap into the tablet space, when the Nook Color was upgraded earlier this year -- but the Nook Tablet brings more than just a new name, of course. Barnes & Noble makes $199 Nook Color, $99 Nook Simple Touch official Nook Color goes multimedia with Hulu Plus, Pandora, Rhapsody, more Barnes & Noble launches in-store Nook stations The tablet offers up a seven-inch IPS display with full lamination, videos up to 1080p and 11.5 hours of battery life. The Nook has 16GB of built-in memory, which is further expandable by way of a microSD slot. The tablet is all about multimedia content, naturally, offering up from Netflix and Hulu Plus pre-loaded on the device. It gives users access to 250 magazines and periodicals, as well as comics from publishers like Marvel. Barnes & Noble is clearly going directly after the Kindle Fire with this device. So, why pick the Nook over the Fire? Double the storage (which is further expandable), a better display, more RAM, free in-store device support and a lighter weight body at under a pound, says Barnes and Noble. The device runs Gingerbread, and unfortunately, like the Color before it, doesn't offer open access to the Android Market. As expected, the Tablet will cost you $249 ($50 more than the competition from Amazon). Pre-orders begin now, and the slate will start shipping next week.%Gallery-138635%
Best Buy whacks $50 from Nook Color's price tag
Waiting for Monday to hear about the inevitable? Don't. If you're looking to snap up a Nook Color (review) following the impending price drop -- you know, now that the Nook Tablet is about to replace it on the company's hardware pedestal -- Best Buy would like you to know that it's dropping the price of said product already. What's still listed at $249 at B&N's own site is $199 in the source link below. Celebrate accordingly.
