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Barnes & Noble opens 'PubIt!' self-publishing portal, details compensation model
It ain't exactly summer, but we'll take it. Launching just a few days after we'd been told to expect it, Barnes & Noble's PubIt! self-publishing portal is finally open for business. As you'd heard before, this platform is essentially designed to give independent writers a venue for hawking their masterpieces, with PubIt! converting files to ePUB for use on a wide range of e-readers (read: not only the Nook). Published titles will be available for sale within 24 to 72 hours after upload on the B&N eBookstore, and the company's pretty proud of its "no hidden fees" policy. Unfortunately, the compensation model -- which is being detailed today for the first time -- has its quirks. For PubIt! eBooks priced at or between $2.99 and $9.99, publishers will receive 65 percent of the list price for sold content; for those priced at $2.98 or less, or $10.00 or more, publishers will only receive 40 percent of the list price. In other words, there's a no man's land in that $10 to $15 range, so you'll probably be settling for a $9.99 price point or reaching for the skies at $19.99. But hey, at least all PubIt! ebooks will also be lendable for a fortnight -- surely that counts for something. Right?
HP's Photosmart eStation Android tablet hands-on (update: video!)
So here it is, after months of details coming to light an inkdrop at a time, the HP eStation all-in-one printing solution. But we're not gonna dwell but on half of that: the 7-inch tablet skinned out by Yahoo and powered by Android 2.1. As we expected, though, the Google experience is decidedly less that you're accustomed to: search is Yahoo only, and our attempt to find an alternate method was met with a barebones settings menu (search via the browser page still works). Additionally, there is no access to Android Market, relegating your customization instead to HP's print-heavy app store -- sorry, no games, as that's not what the company wants to focus on here, according to the rep. That also means no native Gmail, much to our dismay. What Yahoo has provided is a suite of apps and widgets that actually work well in their simplicity, from weather to stocks and search. We were reminded at numerous points that this is a prototype build, and for good reason -- the responsiveness was questionably slow, especially in the browser. That said, the Nook store and e-reading app was as fluid as you'd ever need. WiFi is equipped on both the tablet and the printer for cloud-based connectivity on the go. Battery life is measured at four to six hours, and Android 2.2 is expected by holiday still sans Market, but beyond Flash (and at this point we question its performance on this hardware), there's probably not a lot of value-add in the update. Expect this AIO to be shipping the in the next few weeks. %Gallery-102780%
Exclusive: HP Photosmart eStation C510 is Android-powered Zeus / Zeen, may not run Gmail or Market apps
We saw it this weekend for a fleeting moment, but thankfully one handy reader sent us copies of the product page for HP's Photosmart eStation C510, which we can now confirm is the Zeus / Zeen printer and detachable tablet combination we caught wind of back in early August -- and we've got some more details. Bad news first: as of a month ago, the Gmail app was missing and there was no support for Android Market, meaning the Zeen might not be an official "with Google" Android tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab. (The product page conspicuously lacks any mention of the OS, so we're thinking Android might simply be the hidden-away base layer for the TouchSmart UI, making this thing super boring.) It does have the default Android browser and at least some custom apps for printing pictures from Facebook, Yahoo, and Snapfish preloaded, but we don't know about anything else. Major bummer, but we're told it shouldn't be too hard for the community at large to root the sucker. Beta testing begins this month, so that all might change before the projected September 20th release. Here's what else we know so far: The Zeen is a capacitive tablet running HP's TouchSmart skin on top of Android 2.1 -- it won't get shifted to webOS, and it's not clear if it'll get upped to Froyo before launch given the development time required. It has capacitive touch buttons, an SD card slot, video support, and at least some prototypes have cameras with a special webcam app installed. We're told TouchSmart will be locked in, but we don't know how deep that'll go -- right now the standard Android homescreen is still accessible. That's supposedly going away, so don't get your hopes up for any native Gmail / Angry Birds use. E-reading is a major focus, and the Zeen has "significant" integration with the Barnes & Noble Nook bookstore and ecosystem. Makes sense, as the Nook itself is based on Android, and being able to print e-books from the Zeen would be a huge differentiator -- and a great way for HP to sell more ink. The touchscreen is apparently not very accurate at all, and we're told the overall experience is far less satisfying than a competent Android phone. Don't expect this to replace your Droid Incredible for all at-home use. The Zeen will come in two configurations: a $399 bundle with a new printer called Zeus and as a standalone unit for an unknown price. The Zeus has its own "basic" control setup, but when the Zeen is docked it provides a rich interface to the printing functions -- presumably a web-connected interface like the one HP's been moving towards with other printers. (Note: the product page listed $399.99 but provided no indication what price the Zeen might go for solo.) Ship date is an estimated September 20th but due to some testing issues this may be pushed back. Until HP comes clean and inks out the details for all the world to see, check out the product page in pictorial format below. %Gallery-101545%
HP lists Photosmart eStation C510 printer with detachable e-reading touchscreen -- is this the Zeus? (update: yes)
Now, we don't have any confirmation that the two are one and the same, but we just caught wind of a very intriguing printer on HP's website. The Photosmart eStation C510 is listed for $399.99 and, in addition to usual ink-plastering duties, has a detachable wireless 7-inch TouchSmart control panel for browsing content, printing (of course), and "brows[ing] the latest e-book bestsellers or old favorites." It all sounds well and good, and if you ask us, it rings a very eerily similar chord as the eStation Zeen / Zeus from early August. If so, that'd make this touchscreen an Android 2.1 tablet with "significant" Nook integration for e-reading. Guess we'll just have to wait and see what's under the hood, software-wise. What say ye, HP, how about throwing us a press release yonder? Update: And just like that, the printer has disappeared off the face of the internet, without so much as a cached Google page to its name. Update 2: A trusted source tells us this printer is indeed the eStation Zeus of yore. [Thanks, Julian]
Nook for iPhone, iPad and PC see updates, slew of new features in tow
Barnes & Noble told us this update was in the pipeline when it introduced Nook for Android, and sure enough, said update is hitting the intertubes this fine morning. The iPhone and iPod touch version of the Nook app is said to be completely overhauled, while the iPad edition is the company's first to offer an in-app "rating" feature. In case you couldn't guess, the former also adds support for the iPhone 4's Retina Display, while also tossing in a slew of new customization options (themes, day / night content options, line spacing, font styles, preferred justification, previews, etc.). Finally, today also marks the reintroduction of the Nook for PC client, though it seems that most of the fanciful new features are reserved for the more portable versions. Hop on past the break for the full skinny, and tap that source link to get to downloadin'.
Engadget's back to school guide: E-readers
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we have e-readers in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Yes, it's the next round of buying advice for those of you condemned to start hitting the books at the end of the summer. But, with one of these e-readers, you might just have fewer books to hit -- or at least lighter ones. Sadly most schools are still dependent on texts of the pulpy variety, but that doesn't mean an e-reader can't make your life a lot easier at school, and possibly even save you some money if you're reading the classics.
Barnes & Noble Nook Study now available to download, just in time for fall semester
Take heart, freshmen -- six months from now, you'll be kickin' it on holiday break, while the rest of us working folk glare angrily and curse the wasted chances that haunt us still today. Positive thinking goes a long way, right? At any rate, Barnes & Noble has made sure that its newly announced Nook Study is live prior to the start of most fall semesters and as of today, both Windows and OS X users can head to the source link to get those bits a-flowin'. We'll be interested to see just how many students take advantage of the portal -- not everyone's keen on digital textbooks, you know -- but hopefully it'll have a better go at things than did the Kindle DX.
Nook for Android now available to download, offers eBook lending
Well, what do you know? Turns out you don't actually need to invest in a Nook e-reader to enjoy the experience on your existing smartphone. And considering that the average Android smartphone will boast a display larger than your face within 2 years (if current trends continue, anyway), we'd say we could be onto something good here. At any rate, B&N's own eBookstore app is now available for Google's dear mobile OS, landing just weeks after Amazon pushed its Kindle app out into the same marketplace. Of course, B&N's not shying away from the competition, dubbing its app "the only Android e-reader application to offer eBook lending." It's available to download now on devices rocking Android 1.6 or above, and yes, even Android users can pick up on another platform where you leave off on your phone. Fancy.
Barnes & Noble's NOOKstudy coming to students in August
Barnes & Noble is diving deeper into the education market with an expected August release of NOOKstudy which will run on Macs and PCs and not require a NOOK or any other mobile device. NOOKstudy will act as a hub for eTextbook, class notes, syllabi, scanned handouts, and even non-educational eBooks. It will allow students to take notes as well as highlight passages in eTextbooks. Users will also be able to tag items for easy retrieval using common terms like: "for the final exam". It will provide full searches of anything, in the eTextbooks or your notes, and link into Google or Dictionary.com to look up terms. Multiple eTextbooks can be opened at the same time, or two pages from different sources can be simultaneously displayed. The program is currently being piloted at Penn State, University of Nevada, Queensborough Community College, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. [via Campus Technology]
Barnes & Noble looks to lock down e-book delivery for education with Nook Study
Timely, no? Just as the 2010 back-to-school season really gets rolling (and that dreaded Fall semester arrives to pester you to death), Barnes & Noble is looking to become your go-to place for eTextbooks, study tools and pretty much anything else in the related field. Up until now, there have been few all-encompassing eTextbook delivery method, and the options that are out there are generally poorly thought out, spartan or simply not marketed well. 'Course, B&N isn't coming right out and saying it, but why else would you create a comprehensive application suitable for Macs and PCs that not only puts digital textbooks into the hands of students for up to 40 percent less than conventional books, but also a full library of study aids, test prep guides, periodicals, and hundreds of thousands of trade and professional titles. Moreover, the app "provides students access to all of their materials -- eTextbooks, lecture notes, syllabi, slides, images, trade books and other course-related documents -- all in one place, so their digital library goes wherever they go." Oh, and did we mention that it also supports highlighting and notes, both of which are searchable? Yeah. Currently, Nook Study is being used in a smattering of universities, with an August rollout pegged for universal use. Lookout, used bookstore -- the end could be nigh.
Barnes and Noble eReader app updated
I've been watching the e-reader competition with great interest lately -- after the iPad entered the market with such a splash, Amazon and Barnes & Noble have been trying to position their own devices in a place where they'll at least be profitable. But at the same time, those apparent iPad competitors have also been updating their own App Store apps. Amazon updated the Kindle app a little while back, and now Barnes and Noble has updated its own iPad app, including support for multiple orientations and brightness control, along with a few other bugfixes and features. As I said before, I like the precedent here -- even if these companies don't match up with Apple on the hardware, this update does a lot to bring the B&N eReader in line with iBooks. Of course this gives us iPad users more options -- even if we don't own a Kindle or a Nook, we've still got the chance to use those services. I would like to see a little more progress made with compatibility -- it's annoying to buy a book on one platform and not be able to read it on any other. But I guess that's the trade-off for having options -- Amazon and B&N will only keep up their app development while the money is coming in from their respective bookstores.
Amazon Kindle dual-screen e-reader patent granted, Barnes & Noble Nook potentially in trouble
Looks like the battle for e-reader dominance between Amazon and Barnes & Noble could soon expand beyond the recent spate of price drops and into the courtroom as well: the USPTO just granted a 2006 Amazon patent on e-readers with secondary LCD displays (like the original Kindle's scroller-navigation panel), and several of the claims are potentially broad enough to cover the Nook and many other devices with both electronic paper and LCD displays. What's more, Amazon agreed not to file for any corresponding foreign patents during the four-year approval process and thus wasn't required to publish the patent application -- meaning this is likely a complete surprise to the entire industry. Yeah, it's juicy. Here's one of the claims that could cause problems for Barnes & Noble -- in plain English, it potentially covers any device with both an electronic paper display and a second smaller LCD display next to it. A handheld electronic device comprising: a housing; an electronic paper display disposed in the housing and having a first surface area; and a liquid crystal display (LCD) disposed in the housing proximate the electronic paper display, the LCD having a second surface area that is smaller than the first surface area of the electronic paper display. That's pretty sweeping -- it doesn't take much to look at the Nook and see that it has both an electronic ink display and a smaller LCD located next to it. Now, we don't know if Amazon has any plans to actually sue anyone over this patent yet, but we're guessing there's a flurry of legal activity happening at all the major e-reader manufacturers right now, and we're definitely curious to see what the fallout looks like -- remember, Barnes & Noble is already involved in a trade secret dispute over the Nook with Spring Design, which claims that B&N saw its Alex reader under NDA and then copied it for the Nook. That case isn't scheduled to wrap up before November, so there's a chance B&N and Spring Design could end up simultaneously fighting each other in one case while taking on Amazon as allies in another, which would be... messy. We'll see what happens -- while we've no doubt Barnes & Noble will put up a serious fight if it comes to that, we're curious to see if the shift away from e-reader development to general-use tablets hastens as the market contracts, margins shrink, and the cost of litigation becomes prohibitive. The ball's very definitely in Amazon's court now -- stay tuned. [Thanks, Anand]
Barnes and Noble Nook firmware version 1.4 now available
Barnes and Noble sure is busy today. If you're a Nook owner, you're going to want to get on the update they've just unleashed pretty quickly. Version 1.4 includes a couple of pretty important fixes -- including the much-need "go to page" feature, an extra large font size, and support for AT&T WiFi. That's right, the next time you wander into an AT&T hotspot you'll be Nooking for free. The Nook firmware version 1.4 update is available now (and we've included a direct link to the download below if you really want to check that out).
$149 WiFi-only Nook confirmed, 3G price dropped to $199 (update: official)
Turns out all our snooping was spot on with this one. We first spotted a simpler, cheaper Nook making its way through the FCC late last month, and then only last night we got tipped off to a $150 price point for the e-reader sans cellular connection. Now Best Buy has confirmed the whole thing with its listing of the BNRV100 model, which comes in over $100 cheaper than Barnes and Noble's original ($259), although Best Buy has seen fit to give that a price trim as well. We like where this is going, especially if it triggers B&N's competitors to lower their own fees. [Thanks, Paul] Update: Barnes and Noble has now gone fully official with its new $149 Nook. The 3G version has taken a price drop to $199 as well, matching the pricing indicated by Best Buy. B&N is today also outing its firmware version 1.4, which allows the free use of AT&T wireless hotspots everywhere.
WiFi-only Nook surfaces in Barnes and Noble database, costs $149?
We knew it was coming, but not how soon, and we'd only guessed at a price. Today a tipster sent over this screenshot, however, clearly showing a Nook WiFi on Wednesday for $149. While internal databases aren't the most reliable source for release dates even assuming the screenshot is legit, we'll know for sure in just days. The question now is how Kobo stacks up. Update: Google's dropping some $149 - $199 hints about the new Nooks in its sponsored ads as well. See a sample after the break. [Thanks, Joseph]
Barnes & Noble looks to encourage ebook reading with free coffee
Need any more evidence that Barnes & Noble is playing for keeps when it comes to ebooks? Then look no further than the company's biggest move yet: free coffee. That will be available at Barnes & Noble bookstores for a "limited time" to anyone that shows a café server an open ebook on a Nook, or any device running Barnes & Noble's eReader app -- a B&N employee will even help you download it if you don't have it installed. No word on when the promotion will end, but you can go grab your first free coffee right now.
WiFi-only Nook gets FCC approval?
If you'll allow us to do a little dot-connecting and hand-waving here, we think we may have just stumbled across a new version of Barnes and Noble's Nook that drops the GSM connection and soldiers on with WiFi alone, matching up nicely with a rumor that spread across the webs not long ago. You see, the Nook's FCC ID is BNRZ100, and this thing that we just found in the FCC's filing system under Barnes and Noble's name has an ID of BNRV100 -- and the test reports are very explicit about the fact that this is for "EBOOK, WLAN, AND USB PORTS WITHOUT WWAN." WWAN, of course, is a fancy way of referring to a cellular connection, so that's that. If this thing can sell for, say, $100 less than the Nook's $260 -- a price that puts it out of reach of the average person's impulse purchase limit -- we could see some significant new uptake of the platform, we'd wager. No word on a release, but we'll keep our ears to the ground.
Barnes & Noble releases eReader app for iPad
Barnes & Noble released its eReader for iPad (free) this week. This latest incarnation adds some features that the iPhone version lacks, like text highlighting and room for annotations (something I wish Apple's iBooks app did). But more than that, eReader for iPad is about sharing. A unique feature called "LendMe" lets customers "lend" books to anyone with the app across platforms (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac) or a Nook. You can grab their address from within the app itself. The app comes with ten free samples of current best sellers, three free classics and a dictionary. Much was made of the iPad's potential as an eReader before its release, as comparisons to the Kindle and Nook were inevitable. Now that some months have passed, users have had time to explore the idea and compare applications for their look, feel and usability. What's your experience been? [Via Electronista]
Barnes & Noble launches eReader for iPad app, we go hands-on
Barnes & Noble might be pushing the Nook as hard as it can, but the retailer has always said it wants to build a reading platform across devices, and it's making a big step in that direction with the launch of its eReader for iPad app today. The app allows Nook users to download most of their content to the iPad -- the books all work, but some periodicals like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal aren't available yet -- and there's a nice bookshelf view with jacket art and a library search function, which the Kindle app and iBooks don't have. As with the Nook and other B&N clients, the iPad client supports LendMe for certain titles, but there's no in-app purchasing -- selecting "add books" from the bookshelf view kicks you out to the browser, just like the Kindle app. We're not sure if this is an Apple restriction or a design decision, but we were told B&N is looking into adding in-app purchasing in a future release. As for reading, eReader is actually quite flexible -- you can customize the page, text, highlight, and link colors any which way you want (we made some hideous combinations), and there are some nice presets themes as well, ranging from "The Printed Page" to an inverted setting called "Night Light." You can also set books to display using the publisher's settings, and there are the usual line spacing and justification options as well. The only issues we had were with page turns and rendering -- flipping from portrait to landscape too fast would result in some brief wonkiness, and flipping pages too quickly would eventually stall the app and lead to a brief load time. Neither was a deal breaker, but there's clearly some room for polish here -- we're sure B&N is planning to iterate this rapidly, so we'll see what happens. All in all, though the eReader app is a worthy competitor for your iPad ebook dollar -- as long as iBooks has the only in-app store it'll remain our favorite iPad reader, but if you've already purchased Nook content this is a solid free addition to the ecosystem. %Gallery-93757%
Barnes & Noble to open 'PubIt!' self-publishing portal this summer
Self-publishing has long since been possible through Amazon, but you won't catch us kvetching about a little competition in the market place. In an attempt to do for indie writers what InstantAction has done for indie game developers, Barnes & Noble has just announced its intentions to open up a self-publishing portal this summer. We wouldn't say that the PubIt! name is the greatest of all time (for a variety of reasons, frankly), but the world's largest bookseller is hoping to expand its importance in the digital realm by giving wannabe authors the ability to upload and sell their material through B&N's website and eBookstore. Details on the compensation model (read: profit split) will be announced "in the coming weeks," but the real kicker here is this won't be limited to the Nook; pretty much any e-reader, tablet or PC will be able to tap in and make purchases, so the potential audience is quite large. Hit that source link if you want to be notified when invitations are going out, and given just how close we are to this mythical "summer" thing, we'd suggest you start putting pen to paper -- and fast. [Thanks, Victor]
