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Engadget's 2013 Holiday Gift Guide: E-readers
Welcome to Engadget's holiday gift guide! Head back to our hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Weighing your e-reader options isn't as difficult as, say, deciding on a new smartphone. There are fewer models to sift through, for one, and your allegiance to Amazon or B&N could further narrow things down. Still, you have a range of options in every camp -- from barebones devices meant for reading and nothing else to full-fledged tablets with the higher-end specs to match. Below, we make the case for some of our top picks.
gdgt's best deals for September 23rd: Nokia Lumia 1020, Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight
Ready to save some cash on your tech buys? Then you've come to the right place. Our friends at sister site gdgt track price drops on thousands of products every day, and twice a week they feature some of the best deals they've found right here. But act fast! Many of these are limited-time offers, and won't last long. Two devices with gdgt Scores of 90 and above top today's deals slate: the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Nook Simple Touch are both at the lowest prices we've seen. Join gdgt and add the gadgets you're shopping for to your "Want" list. Every time there's a price cut, you'll get an email alert!
Nook Simple Touch reportedly getting web browser, email client on June 1st
Remember that web browser that was found hiding in the Nook's search function? It's time could be nigh. According to a leaked memo acquired by TechCrunch, Barnes & Noble will be updating the Nook Simple Touch and Simple Touch with Glowlight with an email app, web browser and an updated store next month. The update will reportedly be sent over the air starting on June 1st and rolling out to all devices in the following weeks. The idea isn't too far fetched -- the Simple Touch is running a skinned version of Android. Nook owners not willing to wait for the official patch can always root the device of course, which comes with some peripheral advantages. Check out TechCrunch for a look the full memo.
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.
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.
The Nook Simple Touch can run a Genesis emulator, but should it?
There we were, thinking touch-based versions of gaming classics were a bad idea on a device intended for gaming -- and then we saw Sonic the Hedgehog 2 running on a Nook Simple Touch. YouTube user "ndncnbvcuyuys" rooted his touch-based Barnes & Noble e-reader, installed the Android 2.1 OS on it, and hooked up a Sega Genesis emulator. The results are not what we'd call "ideal," but as the hacker says, "It is playable." Sure, technically speaking, the on-screen virtual buttons allow interaction with Sonic and his buddy Tails, but whether it's any fun at all is another question altogether. "ndncnbvcuyuys" seems to have a penchant for the impossibly fast games on touch-based e-readers, as he got PlayStation 1's WipeOut running on the Nook Simple Touch just a few weeks back. Might we suggest a PlayStation Vita instead? [Thanks, Ron]
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.
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.
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's Q4 and FY 2012: revenue up, losses up, hopes Microsoft hurries up
Barnes & Noble has released its financial results for both the final quarter and full financial year of 2012. It's a picture of a company that's holding steady in the face of continued onslaught from its rivals, albeit with some hope on the horizon. In preparation for its as-yet-unnamed venture with Microsoft, the company has begun the process of spinning off its Nook and College businesses -- while sales from stores and BN.com now come under the umbrella term of "retail." On that front, it sold $1.1 billion worth of books in the quarter and $4.85 billion for the year -- down from $4.92 billion in 2011. Nook-wise, the company had turnover of $933 million, with device sales increasing 1 percent for the quarter and 45 percent of the year -- but had to eat a loss on taking back unsold Simple Touch readers. Content sales on its various devices increased 65 percent in the quarter and 119 percent in the year -- clearly showing where the market is headed.
Mac classic OS emulator on Nook Simple Touch
So, your clueless Uncle Rob sent you a Nook Simple Touch for Christmas last year, and it's been sitting around collecting dust. Well, here's something you can do with it -- turn it into a Mac running OS 7.5.3. Last November, blogger Mike Cane had the dream of running the classic Mac OS on a Nook Simple Touch. His dream was based on the reality of someone who got the old Mac OS running on an iPhone, but he wanted to have a touch-enabled Mac that would run on a thin tablet device with 256 MB of RAM and a 600 x 800 screen. At the time of Cane's post, someone had begun work on moving the Mini vMac emulator to Android, Now, that work is complete, and Cane is the happiest camper in the world. He has a gallery of screenshots taken by Mini vMac for Android user FlyingToaster that include the flat Mac running MacPaint and a number of games. I'm excited -- this means my Kindle Fire may finally have a purpose if I can get Mini vMac for Android (free) or Mini vMac II ($1.99) running on it. First I've got to find a valid Mac ROM image, though...
iFixit reveals Nook Simple Touch With GlowLight's magic -- with lasers
Turns out the secret to the new Nook's patent pending magic glow isn't so magic after all. Nope, it utilizes the wonder of diffraction. Yep, the driving force behind this marriage-saving device is science! Says iFixit in its latest teardown, The display assembly contains the front glass, digitizer, and array of GlowLight LEDs, all fused together into one component. The glass over the E-ink screen takes the light from the eight LEDs and evenly distributes it across the screen. How did the site discover the pending patentness after peeling back the e-reader's layers? Why, lasers, of course, beaming one through the aforementioned glass, which diffracted the green light before it hit a wall, proving once and for all that science can be fun. And ripping gadgets apart, naturally.
IRL: Sparrow for iOS, Nikon D800 and the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. One of the reasons we launched this column was to make sure our reviews and hands-on posts weren't the final say on products -- after all, you often need to live with something for more than a week to notice its WiFi signal cuts off past 15 feet, or there's a nasty bug in the settings menu. Indeed, that theme is what ties together this week's roundup of stories: Darren explains why he ditched Sparrow for iOS, Kevin laments the file size of photos he's taken with his Nikon D800 and Brian finds a flaw in his Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight.
Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight shipping this week, B&N warns of limited supply
So much for waiting until May to get your hands on some glowing, Nooky goodness. Barnes & Noble let us know today that the admittedly somewhat clunkily named Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight is slipping out ahead of schedule. The light up e-reader starts shipping this week for those who've already pre-ordered a unit and will continue to ship throughout the month. Apparently in-store units will be a bit fewer and further between, however -- the company announced that the device will be available in "limited quantities" when it hits stores early next month. So, if you don't want to make your mom cry this Mother's Day, the company's recommending that you jump on the pre-order bandwagon soonish. Of course, it couldn't hurt to give our review a peek first, just to make sure.
Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight review
More Info Barnes & Noble Nook WiFi review Amazon Kindle Touch review Kindle Fire vs. Nook Tablet...fight! It's a plague against modern marriage, turning husband against wife, and tearing families apart. It's America's number one problem in the bedroom (according to handy stat sheets passed out by Barnes & Noble, at least): light. Spouses are leaving the light on, attempting to read past their designated bedtime, keeping their partners awake and putting a potentially insurmountable strain on their marital bonds. The solution: Divorce? Trial separations? Mariticide? A clunky, clip-on reading light? Until now these were the best -- nay, only -- solutions to the problem of reading after dark. All of that is about to change, thankfully, as Barnes & Noble readies the release of the new Nook Simple Touch, with the company's patent-pending GlowLight technology. The addition of after-dark reading capabilities is the most significant update to the company's e-reader, which otherwise remains largely unchanged from last year's model. Is it enough to keep the Nook on top of the e-reader heap for another year? Meet us past the break to find out -- that is, if you're not afraid of the dark.
Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight hands-on
What's American's number one problem in the bedroom? Honestly, whatever you first guessed is probably the right answer. For the sake of this conversation, however, let's just assume that it's light, as Barnes & Noble suggests. People are keeping their partners awake at all hours by leaving the light on as they finish the final gripping pages of that Stieg Larsson novel. There's got to be a better way! Something like, say, the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight (make sure to put little sparkly illustrations over the last word when you read it aloud, by the way). As you'd imagine, it can see in the dark. -- or, rather, you can see it in the dark, so you won't have to get kicked out of bed for reading The Hunger Games anymore. The clunkily named Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight is up for pre-order now at $139 a pop. Plunk down your information today, and it should be on its way to you in early May -- just in time for Mother's Day and with a bit of time to spare for 'ole pops. So, how does the reader stack up to its predecessor? Click on through to the other side to find out.
Nook Simple Touch gets upgrade to fix WiFi issues, offers 'minor enhancements'
Remember the Nook Simple Touch WiFi issues we told you about, way back when? Barnes & Noble promised that it was working "diligently" to address the connectivity problems, and now it seem that help has arrived. A rep for the company confirmed that a fix is among the "minor system enhancements" promised in the 1.1.2 upgrade for the e-reader. WiFi connected devices will start receiving the upgrade this week. If you're amongst those who can't connect -- or if you're just a bit antsy -- click the source link for a manual download. Let us know if the upgrade did the trick in the comments below.
