Having seen Barnes & Noble’s NOOKcolor gifted with Android 3.0 Honeycomb, it’s now your turn to catch a jump on Google’s official reveal of the tablet-centric OS. The talented guys over at xda-developers have released a NOOKcolor Honeycomb ROM and it’s surprisingly functional: the touchscreen, wireless and graphics acceleration all work.
The hardware buttons are also functional, along with the accelerometer (for automatic screen rotation). Still to come are sound and hardware video decoding, though neither should stop NOOKcolor owners from getting a decent impression of what Honeycomb brings to the tablet table.
If you’ve not got a NOOKcolor of your own, then head over to Android Community for the full Android 3.0 Honeycomb deep dive, and remember to join us tomorrow, Wednesday February 2, for Google’s official launch event. We’re expecting Motorola’s XOOM to get rolled out for some serious playtime, and we’ll have all the photos and video you need.
Barnes & Noble is reportedly planning to discontinue the NOOK 3G, the original version of its dual-display ereader. According to Engadget‘s source, the retailer has warned stores not to place large orders of NOOK 3G units, since there won’t be stock sufficient to fulfil them.
The NOOK WiFi will continue to be sold, as will the newer full-touchscreen NOOKcolor tablet. It’s unclear on B&N’s motivations behind the decision – while it was originally suggested that poor sales were the reason behind the discontinuation, that’s apparently not necessarily the case – but it could well be a sign that the bookseller is reluctant to continue subsidizing mobile data access.
As on the Kindle, the NOOK offers bundled data for downloading ebooks and samples; the end-user doesn’t see a monthly bill. With the WiFi-version of the NOOK, the onus on connectivity is placed on the user, rather than B&N, which reduces ongoing costs for the company.
Barnes & Noble has announced over 650,000 sales of digital periodical subscriptions and single-issue e-magazines and e-newspapers from the NOOKnewsstand to NOOKcolor owners, in the first two months that the ereader tablet has been available. According to the retailer, since December 25 2010, NOOKcolor users have already bought 150-percent more subscriptions than in the entire twelve months preceding.
Actual breakdowns of the figures aren’t being shared, which means we don’t know exactly how many of that 650,000 were NOOKcolor buyers experimenting with a single e-magazine issue purchase, and how many were opting for more expensive subscriptions. Over 120 periodicals are available.
NOOKnewsstand Exceeds 650,000 Digital Periodical Subscriptions and
Single Copy Sales Driven by NOOKcolor™ Customers in First Two Months
Company Offers Exciting Array of Over 120 Periodical Titles Including
the Fastest-Growing Digital Collection of Full-Color Magazines
New York, New York – January 24, 2011 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, is experiencing robust NOOKnewsstand (www.NOOKnewsstand.com) sales since it brought touch and full, rich color to a wide array of digital magazines and leading newspapers when it began shipping NOOKcolor, the first full-color touch Reader’s Tablet. The company announced digital periodical sales are exceeding expectations with more than 650,000 total subscriptions and single copy sales driven by NOOKcolor customers reading interactive versions of all of their favorite newspapers and magazines, along with books and children’s books. With a dozen new titles, including O, the Oprah Magazine, Food Network Magazine, Martha Stewart Weddings, Guitar World and Consumer Reports ShopSmart;) added within the last month, NOOKnewsstand now features more than 120 top magazine and newspaper brands and offers the fastest-growing catalog of interactive, full-color magazines with something for every NOOKcolor customer.
Designed for people who love to read everything – books, magazines, newspapers and children’s books – in rich, beautiful color, the award-winning NOOKcolor was the company’s best-selling holiday gift. Since Christmas Day customers, hungry not only for new books, but also periodicals, have already ordered 150% more subscriptions than the total number sold over the entire previous 12 months. And sales continue to be very strong as NOOKcolor customers experience and enjoy the expansive NOOKnewsstand offering on the device’s stunning 7-inch VividView™ Color Touchscreen.
“We are excited to offer a wide array of top periodicals and have seen explosive growth in NOOKnewsstand sales since the launch of NOOKcolor. Our customers clearly enjoy reading digital versions of their favorite magazines in rich, beautiful color, along with their daily newspapers, with the convenience of subscription or single issue purchases,” said Jonathan Shar, Vice President and General Manager of digital newsstand at Barnes & Noble. “We’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback from our content partners as well and will continue to build upon our vast collection of periodicals and incorporate even more interactivity for NOOKcolor customers this year.”
Among the NOOKnewsstand magazine best-sellers are: Us Weekly, Cosmopolitan, National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Maxim, Star, O, the Oprah Magazine, Food Network Magazine, Women’s Health and Shape. The top newspapers include USA TODAY, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
With nearly 100 magazine titles and growing, Barnes & Noble offers a wide variety covering home, fashion and beauty, travel, parenting, health, food, celebrities, business, general news and more. Among the NOOKmagazines™ also offered are Glamour, Elle, Men’s Health, Martha Stewart Living, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg Businessweek, House Beautiful, Family Circle, Popular Science, Runner’s World and many more. All magazines are in full-color and are an enhanced version of the print edition, featuring a universal, easy-to-use reading experience including Barnes & Noble’s exclusive ArticleView™ which puts the focus on the content, customized to your favorite reading style.
Customers with NOOKcolor and NOOK devices can also enjoy a wide range of top newspapers, delivered automatically each morning (or when the issue is published) via subscription, or through single copy purchases. The selection of NOOKnewspapers™ also includes The Financial Times, and major dailies such as Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and The Boston Globe.
Experience the wide variety of rich, colorful periodicals available for NOOKcolor today at www.NOOKnewsstand.com, www.NOOKcolor.com or at the NOOK Boutiques and displays in one of Barnes & Noble’s more than 700 bookstores (http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com).
Barnes & Noble has released its NOOK kids for iPad app, offering over 100 interactive children’s books and a child-friendly UI. The free app comes with Richard Scarry’s Colors and Elephant’s Child, and there are 230 interactive picture books to choose from as well.
Parents can lock down specific content via a password, and some titles support text-to-speech. The same titles can be viewed on the NOOKcolor as well. The app is available via iTunes.
Press Release:
Barnes & Noble Extends its Best-In-Class Digital Children’s Reading Experience with New NOOK kids™ for iPad™ Application
Company Adds Over 100 NOOK kids Interactive Books to the Largest Digital Collection of Children’s Content
New York, New York – January 5, 2011 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced it is extending its popular digital children’s reading experience to iPad owners with the introduction of the NOOK kids for iPad application, available for free at www.NOOKkids.com/ipad and www.itunes.com/appstore. The new application makes the company’s expansive digital catalog of children’s content – including 100 new interactive kids’ books including Caps for Sale, Skippyjon Jones and Sheep in a Jeep – even more accessible to customers of all ages, bringing iPad owners the state-of-the-art children’s reading experience first available on NOOKcolor by Barnes & Noble.
With an entirely new application designed specifically for children, NOOK kids for iPad offers various features exclusive to the NOOK kids reading experience. Using NOOK kids-only AliveTouch™ technology, kids can easily find a favorite story and engage with the books and their favorite characters by digitally turning pages, interacting with the text, zooming in and around graphics – all from the iPad. The application helps parents select which books are appropriate for their children through a password-protected Parent’s Corner.
With the NOOK kids catalog, Barnes & Noble offers the largest and growing collection of digital books for kids of all ages, with more than 230 interactive picture books, many with audio narration, for both NOOKcolor and NOOK kids for iPad owners to explore and enjoy. From the Llama Llama series and Max & Ruby to The Snowy Day and Are You My Mother?, customers can easily shop for books organized by age range, and NOOK kids books are presented in a consistent format, so parents and kids can discover a reading experience that is as familiar to them as the content itself. NOOK kids for iPad complements Barnes & Noble’s NOOK™ for iPad application which gives older children and adults access to more than 12,000 children’s chapter books – coming soon to NOOK kids for iPad – as well as more than two million digital titles.
“Since creating an in-store experience for kids decades ago, Barnes & Noble has helped millions of children and their parents discover books and ignite a love for reading, so we could not be more pleased to bring that experience to new platforms and expand our NOOK kids offering even further,” said Jamie Iannone, President of Digital Products, Barnes & Noble. “Since NOOK kids first became available some seven weeks ago on NOOKcolor, parents, grandparents and children continue to tell us they love our winning combination of color, touch and timeless stories. We’re excited to extend another best-in-class reading experience to iPad owners, and give parents and children more access to timeless classics and new favorites wherever they go.”
NOOK kids for iPad also lets young readers choose between reading books themselves or hearing professional recordings of the stories using Barnes & Noble’s exclusive Read to Me™ feature. Kids and parents will enjoy more than fifty titles featuring professional narration which are only available from Barnes & Noble, including story collections from Richard Scarry, Olivia, Thomas and Friends, Barbie and Splat the Cat, as well as popular books such as On the Night You Were Born, The Polar Express, President Obama’s new book, Of Thee I Sing, and Go, Dog, Go! – the top-selling NOOKcolor children’s picture book to date.
To celebrate the introduction of the newest NOOK app, Barnes & Noble is offering two complimentary children’s picture books to new NOOKcolor and NOOK kids for iPad customers – Richard Scarry’s Colors and Elephant’s Child, which will automatically appear in the customer’s digital library upon registration.
Two new online videos bring NOOK kids to life and let customers experience the new, fun and colorful way of reading at their local Barnes & Noble bookstore. The “NOOK Kids Guided Tour” video highlights the exciting ways children and parents can enjoy NOOK, and the “Kids Love NOOKcolor” video shows children exploring NOOK kids content with ease, swiping and tapping their way through some of their favorite reads at a Barnes & Noble book store, one of several with a dedicated NOOK kids reading area which is proving immensely popular. Learn more and view the video at www.NOOK.com/kidslovenookcolor, or visit a local Barnes & Noble today to let your children delight in the NOOK kids experience themselves.
Another day, another NOOKcolor hack, and now it’s the ereading tablet’s Bluetooth capabilities that are getting unlocked. Out of the box, B&N leave the embedded Bluetooth chip deactivated, but occip of xda-developers has managed to turn it on and get it to scan and connect to other devices.
There are some drawbacks, not least that it’s said to be a little glitchy at present, and you need to be running Android 2.2 on the NOOKcolor rather than the Android 2.1 it ships with. However, the tablet potential of this low-cost device continues to grow, potentially making it one of the more polished affordable slates on the market.
Barnes & Noble has announced that its NOOK range has become the retailer’s biggest selling line in the company’s history, with the NOOKcolor taking the number one spot as the best-selling gift of the holidays. Meanwhile, almost one million B&N ebooks were purchased on Christmas Day, despite widespread reports of server issues plaguing the service for the holiday weekend.
Updated with B&N statement on the server outages after the cut
The news follows Amazon’s announcement that the Kindle is now its best-selling product of all time. Neither retailer has publicly confirmed sales figures, however, with B&N only saying that “millions” of NOOK devices – including the original NOOK, its WiFi-only version and the newest NOOKcolor – have been sold.
For more on the NOOKcolor, check out our multi-part series on a week with the new color ereader tablet. We’re chasing B&N for an official comment on the outage.
Update: Barnes & Noble spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating gave us the following brief statement:
“Due to the high traffic and customer demand on Christmas Day, we experienced some sporadic issues with our servers that were quickly resolved.”
Press Release:
NOOK™ Line of eReading Devices Becomes Barnes & Noble’s Biggest Bestseller in Its History
NOOKcolor™ is Company’s Top Holiday Gift
Millions of NOOK™ Devices and Expansive Digital Catalog Combine to Result in Nearly One Million NOOKbooks Sold on Christmas Day
New York, New York – December 30, 2010 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced that with millions of NOOK eReading devices sold, the line has become the company’s biggest bestseller ever in its nearly 40-year history. The new NOOKcolor Reader’s Tablet, introduced just eight weeks before Christmas, is the company’s number one selling gift of the holiday season. Barnes & Noble also announced that it now sells more digital books than its large and growing physical book business on BN.com, the world’s second largest online bookstore. With its growth across device and NOOKbook™ sales over the critical holiday selling season, Barnes & Noble has successfully established itself as a leader in digital reading.
Demand for the critically acclaimed NOOKcolor remained high following the product’s introduction in late October through the holidays. Sales have continued to exceed the company’s high expectations. In addition to a great customer response, NOOKcolor has received high praise and critical acclaim from leading technology and consumer media outlets including being named “Editors’ Choice” and the “Best Android Tablet of The Year.” The company also experienced robust sales for its award-winning line of NOOK 3G and Wi-Fi devices, which feature an E-Ink display and a color touchscreen for navigation.
The company also reported record holiday sales from its comprehensive two-million-title catalog, including nearly one million NOOKbooks purchased and downloaded on Christmas Day alone. Through Barnes & Noble’s eReading offerings, customers can buy and read their NOOKbooks on the widest range of platforms, including NOOKcolor, NOOK 3G, Wi-Fi®, and using NOOK apps on popular devices including iPad™, iPhone®, Android™ smartphones and more. Among the best-selling titles of the holiday season were James Patterson’s Cross Fire, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Confession by John Grisham, and Decision Points by former U.S. President George W. Bush.
“NOOKcolor became the gift of choice over the holidays for people who love to read everything – books, magazines, newspapers, children’s books and more – in rich, beautiful color,” said William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble. “The success of NOOKcolor, along with our unique ability to market NOOK devices to readers in our stores and through our strong channel partnerships with Best Buy, Walmart and Books-a-Million, resulted in the continued explosive growth of our Digital Content business and our NOOK line, our most successful products ever. We have a large online book business at BN.com, that’s been recently growing. And the fact that eBook unit sales now exceed physical book sales through BN.com, illustrates how quickly we’ve grown this exciting new business at Barnes & Noble.”
NOOKcolor is the first full-color touch Reader’s Tablet that integrates books, magazines, newspapers and children’s books – all in amazing, rich color in a device that weighs less than a pound. It features a stunning 7-inch VividView™ Color Touchscreen and is the most social reading device ever built. NOOKcolor is available at your local Barnes & Noble store and at www.NOOKcolor.com, as well as Best Buy, Walmart and Books-A-Million stores.
Barnes & Noble has been on a trademarking spree, applying for names including NOOK2 – suggesting a second-gen ereader – along with Nook Smart, Nook Cook and even Nook Kids. Pocketnow have dug through the USPTO applications, and reckon that while the Nook Kids description matches that of the presumably hardware NOOK2, it may well be a content-only platform and companion iPad app.
Nook Cook, meanwhile, is described as a “downloadable software application providing information on cooking, recipes, and related information in the field of food.” Nook Smart seems connected to the existing Nook Study educational system in some way.
Finally, there’s a “Nooksellers” trademark which seemingly describes a service combining online and telephone support as well as a media recommendation and social network system. B&N describes this as “a web site for users with specific informed recommendations of specific consumer products and services validated by the inputted preferences and social network of the user; providing a web site for users with exclusive personalized recommendations on books, electronic books, authors, book subject matter, book genres, music and digital media entertainment.”
It seems that while Barnes & Noble’s finances have been rescued by the NOOK range, the book retailer’s servers haven’t been quite so resilient. Multiple reports have been hitting Twitter over the past few days, complaining that the NOOK activation and ebook download systems have been offline or overloaded, presumably with the weight of new users attempting to set up their NOOK and NOOKcolor purchases and buy content.
The server debacle is an embarrassing repeat of the holiday 2009 period, during which time B&N’s NOOK servers also went down as original NOOK buyers attempted to use their new toys. If owners can activate their ereaders then the issue affects new content delivery; instead of a wirelessly-downloaded text, they see a message telling them that the server is “too busy.”
Some new owners are finally getting ebooks onto their new toys, which suggests the problem is lessening, but it’s still a painful example of how B&N failed to learn from their problems last year. Considering ereaders are usually billed as the more immediate way to get access to books than heading off to the store and picking up a physical copy, this probably isn’t the best way to demonstrate that advantage.
Barnes & Noble’s NOOKcolor has acquired a hacked version of Android 2.2 Froyo, upgrading the touchscreen ereader’s software and taking advantage of the recent NOOKcolor root. Jesse Vincent has the instructions, though be warned, they’re not as straightforward as most ROM reflashes we’ve grown used to; so far there isn’t a public, distributable Froyo ROM for the NOOKcolor, so you’ll have to compile your own with a few potentially dangerous modifications along the way.
They include disabling the heat protection sensor that tracks when to shut the system down if the battery overheats, and several steps which could readily brick your NOOKcolor. There’s also no WiFi or Bluetooth support at present.
So you were hangin around when they said “The next NOOK will be NOOKcolor!” and you were on the edge of your seat when they announced “Developer Support!” you’re really gonna jump for joy now – NOOK SDK v1 is available for download RIGHT THIS INSTANT. All your developer doors are about to be opened. Get those idea bags open and make some reader-centric apps for Barnes and Noble to make their NOOKcolor the explosively reader-centric reading device they mean it to be!
Inside this SDK you’ll find a Android Virtual Device (AVD) Emulator, Android Debug Bridge (ADB) configuration settings, Sample Code, and Documentation for NOOKcolor files and components. This SDK 1.0 Android add-on uses the Android SDK and AVD Manager to install. You can also take advantage of PDFs including Developing for NOOKcolor, Usability Basics for NOOKcolor, and Specifications for NOOKcolor. Find all of this at Barnes and Nobles Developer Hub.
