Microsoft and Barnes & Noble hook up for NOOK e-publishing joint venture

News

  • April 30, 2012 at 6:02 am

0

B&N Nook Color charging

The saying goes that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and it seems that Microsoft, from software giant fame, and Barnes & Noble, the operator of brick and mortar bookstores but also of the NOOK digital reading platform, are ready to put their past differences behind and get together in a joint venture.

Yeah the two companies had been entangled in a number of patent disputes, relating to B&N’s NOOK devices, and B&N has also been firing antitrust claims against Microsoft. Well the two past enemies have just announced today that they will forming a new company, with Microsoft taking up 17.6 percent for $300 million and B&N will be left with the remaining 82.4%.
continue reading

B&N Nook Tablet can now be rooted easily with an SD card

News

  • January 30, 2012 at 4:39 pm

0

B&N Nook Tablet easy SD card root

The Barnes & Noble Nook Color was one of the most easily rooted devices, and practically un-brickable, because it was possible to boot from a microSD card. Its successor, the B&N Nook Tablet, is now following in the same footsteps. The endeavoring forum users over at XDA Developers have just developed a method of rooting the Nook Tablet using an SD card.

Requirements include a microSD card larger than 2GB, preferably and a Windows or Mac computer. As with the Nook Color methods, the process involves flashing an image to the SD card. You then insert the freshly created SD card into your Nook Tablet and reboot. The SD card image handles the rooting process automatically and also gives you the full Android Market and Google apps to boot.
continue reading

B&N Nook Tablet announced, $249 shipping November 18th, a paler shade of grey (video)

News

  • November 7, 2011 at 1:29 pm

0

B&N Nook Tablet

We already saw all the details of the Nook Tablet, Barnes & Noble’s response to the Amazon Kindle Fire last week. Barnes & Noble has today officially unwrapped its Nook Color successor, and things are looking good for the book retailer.

The Nook Tablet shares the same unique Yves Behar design like the original Nook Color (which by the way is now selling for $199), save for a lighter grey paint job, and a slightly slimmer design. Inside however it’s been vastly improved. The Nook Tablet runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread underneath, but like its predecessor, the experience is very customized and is content and book centric.

It’s donned with a 7-inch 1024×600 IPS VividView touchscreen display and runs on a dual-core 1GHz processor with 1GB of RAM. It has 16GB of built-in storage and a micorSD card slot for up to 32GB additional space, trumping the Kindle Fire. You can check out how the Nook Tablet fares against the $199 Kindle Fire in our comparison. The Nook Tablet weights 14.1oz and is 0.48 inches thick. Battery life appears to have been boosted with a claimed up to 11.5 hours of reading or 9 hours of video.

The Nook Tablet comes with Netflix and Hulu Plus out of the box, and is capable of playing 1080p HD video. Other loaded applications include, Pandora internet radio, Chess, Crossword, Sudoku, Media Gallery, NOOK Friends and email. As with the Nook Color, you will not have access to the official Android Market, but rather B&N’s own Nook apps market — though it remains to be seen how fast this can get hacked and loaded with custom ROMs for full market access, like the Nook Color. Barnes & Noble is offering a new ‘Nook Cloud’ free storage service with the device and free trials for Rhapsody, MOG and Grooveshark.

You can pre-order the Nook Tablet today for $249 from B&N, shipping on November 18th. The Nook Simple Touch device, with an E-Ink display, is now just $99 (from $149) and has received improved rendering software for faster page turns, while, as we’ve mentioned, the Nook Color can be had for $199 (from $249).

A host of presentation videos are after the break.
continue reading

B&N Nook Tablet vs. Amazon Kindle Fire comparison

News

  • November 3, 2011 at 7:13 pm

0

Amazon Kindle Fire vs. Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet

Barnes & Noble is preparing its own 7-inch budget and book/magazine-centric Nook Tablet to rival the Amazon Kindle Fire. Where the Nook Color was lacking, the Nook Tablet has more than made up for it. On one hand, the Nook Tablet, has a faster processor than the Kindle fire, it’s lighter, has double the RAM and on-board storage and can take microSD cards. On the other hand Amazon has a huge cloud presence and a bigger library in terms of content — books, music, movies. The Amazon Appstore also has a bigger selection of apps. Confused? Well, we’ve got all the details for both devices for you in a handy comparison chart, which you’ll find after the break. You might also want to check our initial Kindle Fire vs. Nook Color comparison.
continue reading

Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet leaked; Nook Color successor to take on the Kindle Fire

News

  • November 3, 2011 at 6:52 pm

0

B&N Nook Tablet leak

So, remember the event that Barnes & Noble has scheduled for this coming Monday the 7th? Remember, when we were talking about a Nook Color successor to take on the Amazon Kindle Fire? Well, information on B&N’s new tablet/e-Reader has leaked ahead of the event, and we have it here for you.

The new device from B&N will simply be called the ‘Nook Tablet’. As you can see, it’s very similar in appearance to the Nook Color; but what you can’t see is that it’s thinner, at 0.48 inches (from 0.5 inches for the NC) and lighter at 14.1 oz (from 15.8 ounces). The Nook Tablet is getting a much needed processor upgrade, with a new 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP 4 processor, 1GB of RAM (double that of the Kindle Fire) and 16GB of built-in storage (again double the Fire’s capacity). You will be able to expand storage through the microSD card slot, something the Fire is missing.
continue reading