Archive for: nook
The new Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader isn’t quite the beast of a device that many thought it would be. Instead, B&N took the sensible route in releasing a smaller, cheaper, and much more efficient device.
Specs include: 6-inch Pearl display, 7.5oz weight, 800MHz TI OMAP 3 processor, 2 GB of internal storage, and Android 2.1. But the really impressive feature — 2-month battery life. The Nook Touch makes use of a new proprietary flashing technology that supposedly does away with the ugly ghosting that rears its ugly head on competing e-readers. Essentially, pages “dissolve” into each other.
Besides the new hardware, B&N also launched a new service dubbed “Nook Friends” which is a social-esque community allowing book worms to follow fellow bookworms, see what others are reading, and recommend books to followers. Nook Friends…er…friends can also lend books to each other — interesting.
The new more frugal Nook is now available for pre-order online and in stores and will begin shipping June 10th for $139. The good ‘ol boys — the original WiFi and 3G Nook — will bring up the rear for $119 and $169 respectively.
More update blues in the news: The recently launched Nook Color update that turns your once humble e-reader into a full fledged Android tablet appears to have a nasty bug. Reports are circulating that the latest Nook Color update is causing devices to randomly reset. From there users are asked to re-register their devices. However, they’re also unable to connect up to WiFi networks leaving users stuck in a “registration mode” of sorts.
The issue is quickly filling up the Barnes & Noble forums, though B&N hasn’t been all too helpful there or to individual emails sent in asking for help.
We’ve sent an email Barnes’ way and will update you once we hear back. In the meantime, let us know how your Nook Color has been holding out so far and if you’ve had any issues with the update in question.
Update
A B&N rep got back with us today, stating that they’ve already identified and corrected the issue:
Thank you for your email.
A small number of NOOK Color customers were affected by the NOOK Color
1.2 software update causing their devices to revert to factory settings.
We had already identified the problem and fixed it immediately.
We hope you find this information helpful.
Sincerely,
Sofia
Customer Service Representative – Digital Support
Barnes & Noble
Anyone still having problems?
Today, Barnes and Noble officially released the “NOOK Kids” iPad app, targeting reading in young children. The app comes with a complimentary copy of both “Richard Scarry’s Colors” and “Elephant’s Child” as well as a robust set of parental controls for protecting youngsters’ eyes from not so age appropriate reading material. Overall, there are over 230 interactive books at your disposal with some supporting text-to-speech as well as compatibility with the NOOK Color.
NOOK for kids is now available in the Apple App Store for free. Press release inside.
- December 30, 2010 12:55 pm
It never ceases to amaze me the sense of entitlement and ownership a company believes they have over your gadget after you’ve purchased it and taken it home. With that said, a thread over at XDA highlights a potentially unsettling issue. Apparently, some rooted Nook Color users are experiencing a random forced wipe and factory default reset. At first, it was suggest that B&N was pushing out an update to reset rooted Nook Color devices. But if you work your way through the thread, it appears to be more of random software glitch occurring because of an issue with the root process on the Nook Color and OTA updates specifically, as it isn’t happening to every Nook Color nor in the same manner. For some, after a purchase in the B&N store the device resets. Others are simply using the internet when it nukes itself. Either way, we’ve sent an email to B&N for clarification. Check back soon…
- November 29, 2010 8:57 pm
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been following a thread over at XDA off and on, whose ultimate goal was to root the Barnes & Noble Nook Color. (For those who don’t know, the Nook Color runs Android 2.1 atop some pretty compelling hardware: 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM, 8GB internal memory + 32GB additional memory, and a spacious 7″ touchscreen.) The main reasoning behind rooting a nook: in its stock state the Nook Color is severely crippled, having access to the Android Market blocked outright.
But that is true no more. The fine talent over at XDA has cracked open the Nook Color allowing plenty of awesome hacks, with the most notable being access to the entire catalog of Android Market apps. It’s especially interesting considering the highlighted hardware above, because as it stands, said hardware is near the top end of current Android tablets. And now that the software has been unlocked, the Nook Color can officially compete in the world of tablets.
For now, instructions aren’t publicly available. Hopefully that changes. Nonetheless, it’s extremely reassuring to see that the full potential of the Barnes & Noble Nook Color can finally be unleashed, albeit even in private groups. Anyone eager to root their Nook Color?
- November 16, 2010 11:30 am
Fans of the popular first generation Nook who also ordered the new Nook Color will be pleased to know that the device is officially shipping. Compared to the first-gen Nook as well as several other big name e-readers (including the Kindle), the Nook Color almost appears like a tablet computer of sorts. With Android 2.1 being the main powerhouse behind the 8GB of memory, 7″ 1024 x 600 display, and WiFi b/g/n, it almost doesn’t fit into an “e-reader” category.
Nonetheless, it’s a mighty fine device. However, it will be interesting to see how moving away from e-ink to LCD fares with the hungrier book worms of the crowd. In particular, the battery life has tanked from 10 days to a mere 8 hours. Not to mention, LCD isn’t nearly as easy to read as the more “paper-like” e-ink.
In other news: Nook 3G owners can expect an update to drop next week which will bring among other things, faster page turn times, “Reading Now”, and customized library organization.
One of the best ways to kill a product is to riddle the launch with delays, misinformation, and overall insanity and frustration. Barnes & Noble seems to be doing a might fine job with that as we speak. The Nook and it’s followers have been on a roller coaster ride for the past several weeks. Delay after delay has pushed the devices launch date closer and closer towards Christmas to the point that B&N is saying we shouldn’t expect Nooks to ship before Christmas. Hmm, somehow the people that pre-ordered these devices weeks ago with strong assurance that a pre-Christmas delivery date was a sure bet aren’t going to be too happy.
For now, prospective buyers and hopeful owners will have a new date to look forward to — January 15th. If we’re going to get all personal here, I’ve always liked B&N over Borders, perhaps it was the better cafe with actual functioning WiFi (Hey, what do you think I do when I go to a book store — it certainly isn’t reading books…) or maybe it was just the overall nicer layout and atmosphere. Whatever the case, this grand display of disappointment and extremely poor launch management is maddening to say the least. And I didn’t even order a Nook.
For now, I don’t think the Nook’s chances at the eReader market are being hit too bad, but if B&N keeps it up, I can see other eReaders making up for the loss. It’s a shame too, the Nook is by far one of the nicest eReaders to date. Though Engadget is reporting that a B&N rep has contacted them saying “select” stores will still have Nooks in by December 7th. This will definitely be a cross your fingers, multi-rosary, pray to whoever it is that you pray to ordeal. Feeling lucky?
Engadget
