Welcome to the final installment in our “A Week with” review session with NOOKcolor. This particular installment will ask the big questions and seek the big answers. This installment will show you what lies beyond the reading, what’s on the mind of those who would seek developers for apps, and will deliver a final sentence on whether you, the everyday average dude or lady, should invest in this device. Behold! NOOKcolor’s fancy dressing.
If you’ve been following along with this epic journey we’ve taken with NOOKcolor, you know that it’s a lovely looking device, certainly feels nice to hold and to handle, and without a doubt is a unique device that is a centerpiece for Barnes and Noble’s electronics department. Along with the main reason it exists, that being that whole “reading” thing, there’s a tiny pack of apps, a simple web browser, and a files section in your NOOKcolor library.
First let’s chat about this files section. It seems to be rather secondary in that you’re going to have to know exactly what you’re doing as far as file format goes if you plan on using any files you didn’t download from B&N directly. After an hour of trying for a video file format that worked on the device (even after having check the manual hosted on NOOKcolor,) I was unable to get a file running. I’m no magician, but if I’m unable to find a file format that works, you bet your biffy Grandma Edna won’t be able to do it either.
The web browser is nice and big. Whenever you’ve got a screen this large and have a web browser that functions half-nice (this one functions quite well, actually,) that’s a big plus. A very forgiving keyboard and memory for addresses typed in the past make this browser a functioning piece of your day if you, for example, are the sort of person who doesn’t own a smartphone but does carry this device around in your backpack and wants to check their web-based email (gmail for example) or social networking sites.
YouTube works but plays relatively low-quality video for what you know this device is capable of (you see a magical array of video when you first turn your device on), NetFlix does not function. Above you’ll see an example of how well the browser handles the first TRON Legacy sneak preview trailer – notice a couple things – the reflection you see of the camera I’m holing up to film the screen (this device has a somewhat lowered glare, but you can still definitely see yourself in it when the screen is black), and the sound- it’s a bit muffled as the speaker is on the back of the device.
In your “Extras” tab, aka your apps folder, you’ll notice instantly that these were never meant to be the main attraction. The name of the folder is “extras” – get it? This bin of everyday device mainstays like chess, Sudoku, and crossword enforce the fact that this device is aimed at those who read and enjoy games that live inside the reading universe. You’ll also find a contacts app which contains people who also own NOOKcolors with whom you can interact with elsewhere (this app acts as a sort of flip-file of all your people, where you can add or subtract them and their info.) There’s another app for LendMe (accessible also through your Library, as we spoke about in a previous post) where you can ask to borrow or lend books from and to your contacts.
There’s a super simple Music app where you can play music files you’ve added through your “My Files” – THIS is the simplest and best implementation of the My Files feature, just drop your music files (more than likely MP3s) into your Music folder upon finding it once you’ve plugged your NOOKcolor into your computer, and poof! They’re in your Music app. Simple. This app is in place so that you might plug in your headphones and listen to music while reading. Of course, you could also use this function as a giant music player if you’re the sort of person who plays music in your car through a headphone jack, but seeing as how MP3 players are basically given away these days, this might be a bit unreasonable.
Gallery works in a very similar way, upon dropping a bunch of photos into your pictures folder when you’ve got NOOKcolor plugged into your computer, they show up here instantly. A great way to carry along a simple portfolio for all of us creative types? Perhaps.
Then there’s Pandora. Clearly the folks at Pandora saw this as a giant opportunity to get their service out to the world in waves, as this app is developed above and beyond all the others. Works great, sounds great, connects easily.
Now the people at Barnes and Noble aim to make this device a place where developers make apps that are reader-based. Apps that work with readers, around readers, and to improve and enhance the whole reading experience. Will it work? That’s the million dollar question. Take a look at their strategy to make this happen and consider the following:
1. The profit share for developers selling apps is not yet released.
2. They plan on offering help in the form of personal support through NOOKcolor developer.
3. They plan on offering deals and promotions that would take place inside the B&N stores – what this consists of is still unclear.
4. These apps must circle around and stay within the boundaries of what Barnes and Noble considers reading-based. Again, what these limits are and will be remains unclear.
Do these limits and prospects for developers spell a certain name for the future of NOOKcolor? We’re in sort of an age where it’s being decided how open our tablet-based devices are going to be, devices are going to survive or die based on the applications that are offered on them as well as the functionality they present. If there’s not enough apps, will NOOKcolor fizzle? Or perhaps the question should be if there aren’t enough publications available for reading on NOOKcolor, will it fizzle?
Wrap-Up
The prospect of using this device to read the books you’re sure are available or are going to become available is exciting. If you read the magazines and newspapers you know are available or are going to become available on this device, it’s worth it. If you’ve got a kid who you’re training to become part of this digital world, having them work on screens as much as possible so their in-tune with the modern world before they even enter it, this device is rockin (as far as reading goes). Remember that starting at the beginning of next year, there’ll be interactive elements in both magazines and kids books, so if you’re unsure about those items at this point, feel free to wait and see.
The prospect of having this device completely unlocked and running a free-for-all Android OS, that’s spectacular. I’ve seen what this device is capable of video-wise and sound-wise, the display is crisp and bright and reacts extremely well to swipes, taps, and everything along those lines. Imagine the possibilities! That’s what I’m doing.
If you’re still on the edge, deciding on if you’d like to work with an e-ink device or this bright display, that’s still a question I think you’re going to have to answer yourself. If you’ve never experienced e-ink, maybe you’d find this device more excellent because it falls right in line with what you’d expect from a device you hold in your hands and read. On the other hand, if you’ve been using nothing but e-ink since it began to exist, maybe you should consider the fact that you’ve probably already got a device that’s going to continue to get the novels you enjoy for quite some time. But does it have magazines, newspapers, and kids books in full color? No. Are you going to abandon all of those things in the analog world just because you can access them here on this device? I doubt it.
The big choice ends up being between the NOOKcolor and it’s e-ink cousins if you’re a heavy reader, or between the NOOKcolor and it’s tablet cousins who’ve already got unlocked capabilities if you plan on using this device for activitiess other than reading.
You can purchase a NOOKcolor right this moment for around $300 ($250 direct from B&N), a NOOK (e-ink original) for around $225 ($149 direct from B&N), a Kindle for $180, and an iPad for $525. These items are the main competitors of NOOKcolor if you’d ask me on the street. Choose your destiny!
While those looking for an eReading device that features a colored version, rather than the more “traditional” e-ink display, have found some solace in the NOOKcolor, for all those adopters who picked up the original NOOK, it’s time you get a decent upgrade to your firmware version. Not too long after the official launch of the color version, the e-ink touting NOOK has just been granted version 1.5 of its software, which brings plenty of improvements to the eReader.
First and foremost, Barnes & Noble say that the new firmware version will grant the eReader faster page refreshes, something in the ballpark of 50% faster, in fact. You’ll also get better syncing across devices, as well as be able to customize folders. You should also get better battery performance after the update, as well.
The upgrade is available for both the 3G-equipped NOOK, as well as the WiFi-only model. You should be prompted on your device that you can download the update. And, it’s also a free one, too. After you install it, let us know what you think of the update, won’t you?
Press Release
NOOK eReader Firmware Update v1.5
As previously announced, Barnes & Noble is making the largest-ever update to NOOK 3G and NOOK-Wi-Fi firmware, which is now available. The update delivers the most-requested features and performance enhancements from NOOK customers, including:
· New Features
o Sync current reading position across devices. Sync across all NOOK eReaders and devices enabled with NOOK software and apps, including iPad, iPhone/iPod touch, Android smartphones and PC.
o Customize folders and group content for My B&N Library. The My Shelves feature enables users to organize B&N Libraries by a particular subject or theme, on easy-to-organize, easily-accessible Shelves .
o Password protection option for purchases made on a NOOK device. Customers can require their Barnes & Noble account password be entered before NOOK authorizes any content download (purchases, samples and free books). This is a helpful feature customers requested for NOOKs that are shared among family members, students in a class and company employees).
o Pass code security for the NOOK. Customers can configure NOOK to lock the screen after a certain number of minutes and then require a pass code to unlock it. The pass code security feature will activate each time the NOOK does powers on, awakens form Sleep Mode.
· Enhancements
o Faster page turns. Customers can enjoy a 50% faster turn rate than the previous version.
o Improved search functionality that includes My Documents (side-loaded content) in the results.
o Additional battery and other performance enhancements
NOOK version 1.5 software is available at no cost to all current and new NOOK owners via Wi-Fi or manual download at www.NOOK.com/support. You’ll find images and additional information about NOOK at www.bn.com/nook/media.
NOOK for Android v2.4
NOOK for Android v2.4 adds makes it even easier for customers to quickly browse and download new great reads from the NOOKbook Store with in-app shopping. Browse more than 2 million digital NOOKbooks and more from the NOOK for Android app, and with a couple of taps, your title or sample is downloaded and ready to read on your Android smartphone or across the complete line of NOOK devices and software.
The updated NOOK for Android also gives customers the ability to take notes and make highlights in their NOOKbooks. These highlights and notes will also sync on other NOOK apps and devices.
More information is available at www.bn.com/NOOKforandroid or download the new version from Android Market. We’ll continue to provide you with news of NOOK device and software updates.
Our man in the field Vincent was at PEPCOM last night and got his hands on a NOOKcolor, checking it out a bit and even having a lovely demo done in front of the camera. It was here that we got to see firsthand a working model of the NOOKcolor device and all of the lovely features available on it at the launch. This is Barnes & Noble’s 7-inch “ultimate reading device” of which there is “no more iconic, thin, [or] comfortable [an] ereader.” Sound pretty snappy. Our presenter went through all of the clicks, pinches, and drags in turn.
The device has a 7-inch LCD backlit color display – what B&N found to be the optimal construction for reading and portability. Active desktop (dock below main desktop) has most recent 50 items read, all of these items able to be dragged and dropped onto the main desktop (of which there are three screens, similar to how you’d have multiple screens to place icons for apps in an Android smartphone.) On the desktop, each of these items can then be sized and placed anywhere, on top of, behind, next to, all around eachother like a real desk.
Once inside, say, a novel, you have a customizable reading experience: the font size can be changed, night mode can be turned on (turning the background to black and the text to white). Social Interaction includes the ability to highlight a passage from any bit of text, then sharing to places like Facebook, then tagging friends as one does so. Also inside the text one can bookmark, highlight, and during reading take notes as well.
When reading magazines there’s a navigational function which includes a sort of dock that you can scroll through, showing you thumbnails of all the pages, allowing you to get to any page at any time. Magazines can be viewed both in portrait mode or landscape, navigating the same way for both. One can also pinch to zoom into pages as well.
Article View (pictured above) is something that works inside magazines for when there’s an article that would normally go 2 pages, then have several other pages of ads or other content and finish up later – this way you can read all of the text at once instead of flipping back and forth getting lost like you might in a real world magazine. Bookmarking here works too.
All children’s books (example below) are displayed in landscape mode (as they should be, as most children’s books are designed to be viewed both pages at once). Many of the children’s books have narration (sometimes by famous people!) so the reader (a kid) can read along or have the book read to them. *I should note here that in a talk I had this morning with representatives from B&N (I’ll be reviewing the NOOKcolor soon) I found out that the interactive aspect (that is, seeing items on pages move, being able to pick illustrations up and move them, etc, fun stuff, will not be available at launch, but will instead start rolling out in Quarter 1 of next year.
There’s a Library feature (pictured below) where you can customize your shelves of your entire collection of books, magazines, newspapers, all customizable by you in whichever order you’d like them in (this is in addition to your desktop which is outside of the library, but these are the same books).
There’s a Lendable feature (pictured below, but you’ll be able to see a green ribbon on each book that’s lendable once you see the device up close) which allows you to give (or get) a book to (or from) a friend for 14 days – a time during which the book is effectively transferred, appearing in the person who borrowed the book’s library and inaccessible in the person’s who lent it.
Inside the Shop there’s several ways you can access books including lots of different ways to be recommended a book, categories to browse through, and of course a simple search function.
Take a look at the video here, then the gallery below (in which you can see the microSD memory card slot under the loop,) then view the unboxing and hands-on post by yours truly, then just wait for the weekend where I’ll be posting a full review your your pleasure!
Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Color has begun shipping, earlier than expected, meaning pre-order customers will be getting a premature treat as a 7-inch color touchscreen ereader drops on their doorstep. The Android-based slate will also start showing up in Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Walmart and Books-A-Million stores this week; if you order online today, you can apparently expect your NOOK Color sometime in the week of November 26.
Your $249 gets you WiFi for wireless ebook downloads and web browsing, though don’t expect the full Android experience. That won’t arrive until hackers get their hands on the NOOK Color; after all, a well-made Android slate with a decent sticker price is hard to argue with, and we’re guessing getting this rooted is top of many peoples’ agendas.
Meanwhile B&N has promised an update to the e-paper based NOOK (both the 3G and WiFi-only versions) which will arrive next week.
Press Release:
Customers Begin To Touch the Future of Reading™ As Barnes & Noble Starts to Ship NOOKcolor™, The Ultimate Reading Experience
Initial Devices Shipped and Arriving to Pre-Order Customers
Ahead of Schedule
Experience NOOKcolor with Demo Units in Most Barnes & Noble Stores
Beginning Today
NOOKsmart, Book Ready Program In-Stores Offers Free Customized NOOKcolor Set-Up Service
New York, New York – November 16, 2010 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, began shipping its highly anticipated NOOKcolor by Barnes & Noble ahead of schedule to customers who pre-ordered devices. The first full-color touch Reader’s Tablet will begin arriving today and through the week to customers who pre-ordered the device online and reserved units in Barnes & Noble stores. Live demonstration units that will allow customers the opportunity to touch the future of reading, along with very limited quantities of devices available for purchase, will start arriving in Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Walmart and Books-A-Million stores beginning this week.
NOOKcolor features a stunning 7-inch VividView™ Color Touchscreen and delivers digital books, magazines, newspapers and children’s books in rich, gorgeous color – all in one beautiful, thin and highly portable device. Following the product’s announcement on October 26, Barnes & Noble began taking NOOKcolor pre-orders for the $249 device at www.NOOKcolor.com and reserving units in its Barnes & Noble stores. The product has quickly become the bestselling product at Barnes & Noble with pre-order volume significantly beyond that of the company’s aggressive expectations for the breakthrough new device.
“NOOKcolor is the device for people who love to read everything: books, newspapers, magazines, children’s books and more. Beyond being the most full featured reading product on the market, it also offers the versatility of a tablet, enabling wireless web browsing and streaming music. At $249, it represents tremendous value. We’re encouraged by the consumer response thus far, and the organization is committed to doing everything we can to meet demand,” said William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble.
As Barnes & Noble continues to fill pre-orders and in-store reservations for devices, there will initially be a limited inventory of NOOKcolor in Barnes & Noble and partner stores. Those ordering NOOKcolor online this week can expect their device to ship on or around November 26, a date that the company will continue to adjust as it manages supply with high consumer demand.
Given the strong demand for the new product, Barnes & Noble recommends that consumers who want to ensure receipt of their devices in advance of the holidays pre-order in Barnes & Noble stores or online at www.NOOKcolor.com shortly.
NOOK 3G and Wi-Fi Firmware Update Next Week
For book lovers who crave a paper-like reading experience, NOOK continues to be the most full-featured dedicated E-Ink® device on the market at a great value, starting at $149. Barnes & Noble continues to enhance the overall reading experience and performance of its award-winning, best-selling NOOK 3G and NOOK Wi-Fi devices and will offer a major update to customers next week. More information will be available at www.NOOK.com/support.
About NOOK™ from Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble’s NOOK brand of eReading products makes it easy to read what you love, anywhere you like™ with a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access to Barnes & Noble’s expansive NOOKbook™ Store of more than two million digital titles, and the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices. NOOK products are the most full-featured, dedicated eReading devices on the market. NOOKcolor ($249), the first full-color touch Reader’s Tablet, provides the ultimate reading experience with a stunning 7-inch VividView™ Color Touchscreen to read all of the content you love. For book lovers, NOOK 3G ($199) and NOOK Wi-Fi® ($149) offer a paper-like reading experience with a color touch screen for navigation. In Barnes & Noble stores, NOOK owners can access free Wi-Fi connectivity, enjoy the Read In Store™ feature to read NOOKbooks for free, and the More In Store™ program, which offers free, exclusive content and special promotions. Barnes & Noble was the first company to offer digital lending for a wide selection of books through its LendMe™ technology, available through NOOK eReading products. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and online at www.NOOK.com, as well as at Best Buy, Walmart and Books-A-Million.
In addition to NOOK devices, Barnes & Noble makes it easy for customers to enjoy any book, anytime, anywhere with its free line of NOOK software, available at www.bn.com/NOOKapps. Customers can use Barnes & Noble’s free eReading software to access and read books from their personal Barnes & Noble digital library on devices including iPad™, iPhone®, iPod touch®, Android™, BlackBerry® and other smartphones, PC, and Mac®. Lifetime Library™ helps ensure that Barnes & Noble customers will always be able to access their digital libraries on NOOK products and software-enabled devices and BN.com. Barnes & Noble also offers NOOKstudy™ (www.NOOKstudy.com), an innovative study platform and software solution for higher education and NOOK kids™ (www.NOOKkids.com), a collection of digital picture and chapter books for children.
For more information on NOOK devices and eReading software, updates, new NOOKbook releases, Free Friday™ NOOKbooks and more, follow us on www.twitter.com/eBooksBN and www.facebook.com/NOOKBN.
Two things: let’s talk about what it feels like to use this device, AND, lets look at the full press release on the Nook Color just released by Barnes & Noble a moment ago. Our pals at CrunchGear are there at the event with commentary, Engadget too, plus a couple other friends are sure to pop up along the way. It’s thin, it’s got a rubbery back, and it’s got a loop to put a chain through. It’s nice to hold, very bright and easy on the eyes, and also you can read books on it!
So here it is. It fits in the palm of your adult-sized hand. It’s not perfectly flat, the screen being raised slightly higher than the edge, creating a smooth rounded experience all around. The back is a rubbery situation, completely blank and flat until right up near the edge, less than half an inch of the object’s casing. Near the bottom on the back is the Barnes & Noble branding, what appears to be a grid of holes (for the speaker?) and the rest of the copyright info.
Along the top there’s a 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, and on the bottom is the Micro-USB port for files transfer and charging. It seems very nice to hold and ever since I first realized it was there, I’ve been in love with the loop on the lower left corner of the device. As I mentioned in a post on Android Community, I find the implications of such a detail to almost be more immense than the fact that the device comes in color. I wrote recently a story on how a man purchased 4,500 iPads for his company, having purchased a small batch of them the same week they were originally debuted, shipping them to a conference where his employees used them to present their medical group. Huge hit. Lots of success.
Now what I think might happen as a result of this little loop being here is a similar situation, this time with mostly text-based presentations. This pad becomes something that can be safely put down on a table and walked away from because it can be locked easily through this loop. People hoping to show of their book, magazine, newspaper or whatever as a publication that rises above the tactile experience of holding paper and gets down instead to the words. I don’t know that I’d ever agree to such a presentation, as I’m a firm believer in the eternal nature of the book, but it could be neat!
Now, the folks at TechCrunch are of the opinion that “Nice Knowing You, Nook” might become a popular phrase soon as the Nook does appear to some to be trying to wedge their way into the tablet business, and that’s like, as I love they put it: “bringing a knife to a knife fight when someone else already brought a gun.” Thinking about buying a tablet can be confusing, and releasing another one, in color, with a market suddenly flooded with such devices might not have been the correct way to go about making cash. But then again, B&N is releasing this in a more “curated” way, meaning it’s not as “open” as Android users would have liked. But maybe that’s the key. Apple does it every day of the year. They aren’t doing too bad in the market, are they?
Below there’s a slew of images, all of them from either CrunchGear or Engadget for now. Nook Color looks natural to hold, and the interface looks relatively easy to use. Turning pages seems to be sluggish, but being able to skim news items in Article view is nice. Colors are crisp, viewing at any angle looks great. It costs half as much as an iPad, but it’s not the same device. It’s lighter, smaller, more compact, doesn’t support the Android App Store (or, since we’re on the subject, the Apple App store, but that’s a duh,) but in the end it is NOT a full tablet computer. But what do you really want? That’s the question.
You can pre-order the Nook Color over at Barnes & Noble for $249 now. Take a look at the full press release here, then below that, the gallery of images from CrunchGear and Engadget. NOTE that the images in the light are of the mockup version (we don’t know exactly how close it is to the real deal) of the Nook Color, while the photos in the dark are of the real functioning version of the device.
Barnes & Noble Introduces NOOKcolor™,
The Ultimate Reading Experience
First-Ever Reader’s Tablet with Full-Color Touchscreen and Wireless Access
Enhanced Graphic Books, Magazines, Newspapers
and Interactive Children’s Books
Amazingly Thin and Portable
The Most Social Reading Device Ever Built:
Lend, Borrow and Share with Friends
Pre-Order NOOKcolor for $249 at NOOKcolor.com and in Barnes & Noble Stores, Touch the Future of Reading™ Beginning in November
New York, New York – October 26, 2010 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced the launch of NOOKcolor by Barnes & Noble, the ultimate reading experience – the first full-color touch Reader’s Tablet that delivers digital books, magazines, newspapers and children’s books in immersive, gorgeous color, and all in one beautiful, thin and highly portable device.
NOOKcolor is now available for $249 for pre-order at www.NOOKcolor.com and at Barnes & Noble stores tomorrow, and will begin shipping on or about November 19. Touch the future of reading at a NOOK™ Boutique or display at your favorite Barnes & Noble bookstore, as well as at Best Buy, Walmart and Books-A-Million starting late November.
The first full-color touch device dedicated to reading everything and built on Android™, NOOKcolor opens up a whole new world of digital reading materials of all kinds, in addition to providing access to the largest bookstore with an unprecedented selection of over two million digital titles a single search away. Digital content – from bestsellers to favorite magazines in full color, and interactive children’s picture books and enhanced cookbooks – has never looked better than on NOOKcolor’s stunning 7-inch VividView™ Color Touchscreen.
Building on Barnes & Noble’s nearly 40 years of bookselling and publishing expertise, the company quickly became a leader in the digital arena following the introduction of its award-winning, bestselling NOOK devices, popular free software and expansive digital bookstore last year. This newest addition to the NOOK device family was designed for people who love to read every kind of content imaginable – and features 8GB of space, plus expandable memory, to store it all. NOOKcolor enables quick and easy shopping and book downloads in seconds over Wi-Fi®. NOOKcolor is also the most social reading device ever built – with Barnes & Noble’s new NOOKfriends™ technology, you’re only touches away from sharing with friends via Facebook®, Twitter® and email.
“With NOOKcolor, we’ve combined the functionality and convenience of a 7-inch portable wireless tablet with the reader-centricity of a dedicated eReader, and employed a breakthrough color screen technology that will wow customers,” said William Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble. Added Lynch, “NOOKcolor enables Web browsing over Wi-Fi, music, games and much more, but reading anything and everything in brilliant color is the killer app and squarely the product’s focus. At $249, NOOKcolor offers a tremendous value, particularly in comparison to the many other 7-inch tablets coming to market at twice the cost and often requiring expensive data plans. Most importantly, NOOKcolor is designed for and differentiated by what Barnes & Noble knows best: reading.”
NOOKcolor’s Vast Array of Digital Content
NOOKcolor offers all the content you love, at your fingertips, experienced like never before, through Barnes & Noble’s newly expanded NOOKbook™ Store.
- Shop over two million titles: NOOKcolor provides access to the most expansive digital catalog available so you can browse more than two million books, enhanced books, newspapers and magazines, engaging children’s books, and other interactive content in a single search. Find classics, new releases and bestsellers, including 194 of 205 current New York Times Bestsellers. Sample NOOKbook titles for free and download all content wirelessly in seconds. Since the launch of PubIt!™, Barnes & Noble has also added thousands of titles from independent publishers and self-publishing authors.
- NOOKnewsstand™ – periodicals in vivid color: From The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA TODAY to Rolling Stone, Esquire, US Weekly, National Geographic, Martha Stewart Living, Cosmopolitan and Elle, NOOKcolor customers will find an impressive and growing list of the best daily, weekly and monthly periodicals, all optimized for the device in rich color. Magazine reading is easy and engaging with full-color pages and Barnes & Noble’s exclusive ArticleView™ puts the focus on the content, customized to your favorite reading style. Periodicals, available by subscription and single copy, will continue to become even more interactive next year.
- NOOK kids™ experience: For the first time ever, enjoy the largest collection of popular children’s picture and chapter books in an engaging digital form through the new NOOK kids offering. Through exclusive AliveTouch™ technology, your child can interact with words and pictures, easily find a favorite story, and even have some read aloud to them. Enjoy a broad and growing selection of more than 130 digital picture books – an unprecedented offering that will double before year’s end – and nearly 12,000 chapter books for children, plus exciting enhancements coming soon. Learn more at www.NOOKkids.com.
- Enhanced and engaging titles: Coming soon, NOOKcolor customers will also enjoy a growing collection of multimedia titles offering instructive video and audio to learn about travel, cooking, music and more.
- Great reads, great prices: The vast majority of titles in the Barnes & Noble NOOKbook Store are $9.99 or less, including most current New York Times Bestsellers. In any Barnes & Noble store, read NOOKbooks for free through the company’s innovative Read In Store™ program. On any given day, peruse as many books as you wish, for one hour per title. And enjoy more than one million free classics and even more free reading by checking out additional titles from public libraries.
eReading Gets (More) Social
NOOKcolor makes it simple and reflexive to get social about reading. In another industry first for Barnes & Noble, the new LendMe™ App enables NOOKcolor users to view LendMe books in their friends’ NOOKcolor digital libraries and request to borrow a title they’ve been meaning to read. Customers have the ability to easily lend their favorite NOOKbooks with friends through Facebook and email, even using their imported Google® Gmail™ contacts, and recommend a title, share reading status or a quote via Facebook, Twitter and email.
Your Reading Experience, Your Way
Barnes & Noble recognizes the uniquely personal nature of reading and designed NOOKcolor to be flexible and highly customizable, so each customer can truly make it his or her own.
- Simply more than a touch of fun: Everything you want to do is simple and intuitive. Shopping for new content, finding and reading titles in your library and customizing the way you view your content are all a touch or two away. With a simple tap of the screen or swipe left or right, book pages turn in a flash.
- Personalized reading experience: Experience the flexibility and fun of completely customizing your reading experience. Choose what titles will appear on your home page and Daily Shelf™, organize and view your library your way, find the right text type, size and color theme that’s right for you, and read in portrait or landscape.
- All your content at your fingertips: Your entire library is always a touch away with 8GB of memory. That’s approximately 6,000 NOOKbooks or a combination that might include 1,000 books, 25 full-color magazines, 10 newspapers, 50 kids’ books, 500 songs and 150 photos. Plus, NOOKcolor has expandable memory using a microSD™ card. And with Barnes & Noble’s Lifetime Library™, existing customers of NOOK products and software-enabled devices will instantly be able to access their personal Barnes & Noble digital libraries on NOOKcolor. With this digital library advantage, Barnes & Noble ensures that your content always goes wherever you go and is always protected and accessible on a variety of devices, as well as BN.com.
- NOOKbook Personal Shopping™: Barnes & Noble offers exclusive, personalized book recommendations from its expert booksellers, based on the genres, authors and subjects you like.
- Continuous reading experience: Read NOOKbooks seamlessly across your NOOKcolor, NOOK 3G and Wi-Fi devices (following a NOOK firmware update in late November), third-party eBook Readers powered by the Barnes & Noble NOOKbook Store, and your favorite mobile and computing devices enabled with free NOOK software. These include iPad™, iPhone®, iPod touch®, Android™ smartphones, and Windows-based PCs, laptops or netbooks. NOOKcolor syncs last page read, highlights, notes and bookmarks. For more information on free NOOK software, please visit www.bn.com/NOOKapps.
- View your personal files: Transfer and view personal PDF and ePub files to NOOKcolor, as well as JPG, PNG, GIF and BMP files, and use personal photos for wallpaper. With Quickoffice® software, view Microsoft® Office files including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Punctuate your style: Read in style with a full line of exclusive NOOKcolor accessories from Barnes & Noble, including covers with rich Italian leathers, European broad cloth and more from leading designers kate spade new york, JACK SPADE and Jonathan Adler coming soon.
Attractive Design & Features
To create the most exquisitely designed dedicated eReading device on the market, Barnes & Noble worked with award-winning industrial designer Yves Behar at fuseproject. NOOKcolor’s elegantly simple design in classic graphite features an angled lower corner that evokes a turned page, along with a beaded border and lustrous, soft-touch back that make holding NOOKcolor comfortable and pleasurable. No other full-color touch reading device is thinner or more beautiful.
- VividView Color Touchscreen: NOOKcolor features a best-in-class 7-inch color touch display like nothing you’ve ever seen before, particularly on a dedicated reading device. The screen displays more than 16 million colors and offers a wide viewing angle for personal or shared reading. The special design provides enhanced color tuning, gradation and reduction of glare to reduce distracting reflections.
- Wi-Fi connectivity: Easily connect to personal and public Wi-Fi hotspots as well as free Wi-Fi in Barnes & Noble stores to shop the Barnes & Noble NOOKbook Store and download content in seconds, surf the Web, stream music and more.
- Lightweight and portable: The compact device fits easily into your purse, jacket or bag at 8.1 inches (height) by 5 inches (width) by 0.48 inches (depth) and 15.8 ounces.
And Even More Extras
NOOKcolor offers many extras with fun and useful additions to the reading experience.
- Game on: Enjoy fun and free games on NOOKcolor, including crossword puzzles, Sudoku, chess and many more to come.
- Listen to music while reading: Stream tunes from your favorite artists over Wi-Fi with Pandora® internet radio’s free, personalized music service. And load your MP3 and AAC songs to enjoy music while reading anywhere using the built in 3.5mm headphone jack or speakers.
- Surf the Web: Over Wi-Fi, use a full browser to visit your favorite Web sites, check email, and more.
- Fun and free in-store features: In Barnes & Noble stores, connect to free Wi-Fi to browse and read the content of complete NOOKbooks for free through Read In Store, which features enhanced performance for NOOKcolor, including instantaneous page turns. And download exclusive content from bestselling authors and enjoy special promotions and discounts through the More In Store™ program.
- More extras coming: Get ready to discover more engaging content and applications in the coming months. Barnes & Noble invites content providers and application developers to create innovative reading-centric experiences through the just-announced NOOKdeveloper™ program. More information is available at www.bn.com/NOOKdeveloper.
NOOKcolor Availability
NOOKcolor is available for pre-order for $249 and is expected to begin shipping on or about November 19, making it the perfect holiday gift for people who love to read everything. Experience NOOKcolor today at www.NOOKcolor.com or at the NOOK Boutiques and displays in one of Barnes & Noble’s more than 700 bookstores beginning in late November. Barnes & Noble’s 45,000 knowledgeable booksellers will provide walkthroughs of the entire family of NOOK eReading products and free software. NOOKcolor, along with NOOK 3G and NOOK Wi-Fi, will also be available at Best Buy, www.bestbuy.com, Walmart and www.walmart.com, and Books-A-Million in late November.
Major NOOK 3G and Wi-Fi Firmware Update Next Month
For book lovers who crave a paper-like reading experience, NOOK continues to be the most full-featured dedicated E-Ink® device on the market at a great value, starting at $149. Following the launch of NOOK 3G a year ago, and NOOK Wi-Fi last summer, Barnes & Noble continues to enhance the overall reading experience and performance of its award-winning, best-selling NOOK E-Ink devices. A major update coming in November will dramatically increase the page-turn speed, and deliver the most-requested features and performance enhancements from NOOK customers, including improved search functionality, customized Barnes & Noble Library organization, password protection and continuous reading across all NOOK devices and software. NOOK version 1.5 software will be available at no cost next month for all current and new NOOK owners via Wi-Fi or manual download at www.NOOK.com/support.
“Our large installed base of more than a million NOOK customers will get our biggest enhancement release yet, all based on their most-requested features and inclusive of performance enhancements like even faster page turns,” added Lynch. “With our software updates and product enhancements, we’re continuing the Barnes & Noble commitment of relentless customer service to the legion of existing NOOK owners who have so faithfully contributed to our success and growth in digital reading.”
About NOOK™ from Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble’s NOOK brand of eReading products makes it easy to read what you love, anywhere you like™ with a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access to Barnes & Noble’s expansive NOOKbook™ Store of more than two million digital titles, and the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices. NOOK products are the most full-featured, dedicated eReading devices on the market. NOOKcolor ($249), the first full-color touch Reader’s Tablet, provides the ultimate reading experience with a stunning 7-inch VividView™ Color Touchscreen to read all of the content you love. For book lovers, NOOK 3G ($199) and NOOK Wi-Fi® ($149) offer a paper-like reading experience with a color touch screen for navigation. In Barnes & Noble stores, NOOK owners can access free Wi-Fi connectivity, enjoy the Read In Store™ feature to read NOOKbooks for free, and the More In Store™ program, which offers free, exclusive content and special promotions. Barnes & Noble was the first company to offer digital lending for a wide selection of books through its LendMe™ technology, available through NOOK eReading products. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and online at www.NOOK.com, as well as at Best Buy, Walmart and Books-A-Million.
In addition to NOOK devices, Barnes & Noble makes it easy for customers to enjoy any book, anytime, anywhere with its free line of NOOK software, available at www.bn.com/NOOKapps. Customers can use Barnes & Noble’s free eReading software to access and read books from their personal Barnes & Noble digital library on devices including iPad™, iPhone®, iPod touch®, Android™, BlackBerry® and other smartphones, PC, and Mac®. Lifetime Library™ helps ensure that Barnes & Noble customers will always be able to access their digital libraries on NOOK products and software-enabled devices and BN.com. Barnes & Noble also offers NOOKstudy™ (www.NOOKstudy.com), an innovative study platform and software solution for higher education and NOOK kids™ (www.NOOKkids.com), a collection of digital picture and chapter books for children.
For more information on NOOK devices and eReading software, updates, new NOOKbook releases, Free Friday™ NOOKbooks and more, follow us on www.twitter.com/eBooksBN and www.facebook.com/NOOKBN.
Just over a year ago, Barnes & Noble released their “Nook” device, a reader for books with a secondary Android-powered navigator. Now it’s time for color. Revealed (to the slight surprise of some, expected by half the universe) today at Barnes & Noble’s “very special event” is this lovely machine with a giant color touchscreen, and it’s half an inch thick.
All sorts of lovely things! First, there’s the claim that this portable tablet and e-reader in one is an “entirely new product category.” Then the awesome note that this is designed in part by Yves Béhar (industrial designer and founder of Fuseproject). Then, details!
8.1 x 5.0 x 0.48 inches in dimension. 15.6 ounces weight, partnership with Random House, MacMillan, Hearst, Penguin, Conde Nast, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins. Share your love via contacts, Twitter, and Facebook with the Recommend button, highlights, and notes. Over 100 newspapers and magazines in full color.
The screen is Vivid View from LG. It displays in 16 million colors, and they say “We invested in a full lamination screen film technology.” MicroSD slot, corner handle for locking it up, holding 6 thousand books out of the box. Daily Chef shows latest content like newspapers, latest books you’ve purchased, and etc. Pandora, music, sudoku, chess, and other Apps. All of this coming November 19th for $249.
Barnes & Noble’s upcoming NOOK Color ereader has leaked, and the company only has itself to blame. A CNET tipster spotted the image of the tablet being used to illustrate a screen protector accessory on the bookseller’s own site, in a page quickly pulled by B&N’s web team.
We don’t yet have any specific details about the device, but previous leaks have tipped a color touchscreen – as opposed to the current NOOK‘s combination of a monochrome E Ink display and a smaller, color LCD touchscreen for navigation and control – and a price tag of $249. It’s also said to be less ambitious in its scope than the iPad (hence the low price) but still allow for at least ereader and browsing functions.
We’ll know for sure tomorrow, when Barnes & Noble is holding a launch event for the NOOK Color.
“It appears to be just a handful of credible entrants” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs on iPad rivals, “not exactly an avalanche.” It’s certainly been a shaky few weeks for tablets in general; while Apple’s slate can apparently do little wrong, contributing nicely to another record financial quarter for the Cupertino company, the rest of the market is looking deeply troubled. Qualms over platforms, sizes, pricing and usability have all come to a head over the past seven days, leaving manufacturers looking almost as confused as the would-be consumers.
Jobs laid into Android as a “fragmented” platform and 7-inch displays as “too big to compete with a smartphone, and too small to compete with an iPad.” Nonetheless, Android appears to be the horse on which most Apple rivals are betting. Reviews of the first new batch of Windows 7 slates proved less than positive, with models like the Tega v2 criticized for shortfalls in usability. While Microsoft’s latest version is certainly stronger than Windows XP Tablet Edition ever was, gauged against finger-centric platforms like iOS and Android it lacks the immediacy and intuitiveness users have come to expect.
In response, we’ve seen a gradual distancing of manufacturers from Windows 7, fleshing out vague rumors of reluctance over Wintel slates reported for the past few months among OEMs. MSI has apparently frozen its Windows 7 tablet development, and Lenovo has dismissed the platform as too tied to the keyboard/mouse paradigm as to be suited to pure slates. The question now is not so much whether Android, but which Android, and that’s a thick vein of confusion which even Google itself seems mired in. “What does it mean when your software supplier says not to use their software in your tablet?” Jobs asked, referring to Google’s apparent guidance to manufacturers to wait until at least the next Gingerbread release of Android for tablet use. The first Gingerbread models are expected to arrive at CES 2011 next January – including the new Android model that MSI is supposedly focusing on in favor of Windows 7 – but other manufacturers are even more wary. Lenovo, while eschewing Microsoft’s OS, has said it intends to wait until Honeycomb, the version of Android beyond Gingerbread, before making its play.
On the flip side, Android 2.2 Froyo models are reaching store shelves now, or are expected to in the next few weeks. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is perhaps the best known, already on sale in some mainland European markets and hitting the UK on November 1st and the US through that month. As well as being one of the 7-inch models Jobs was so eager to dismiss, the Galaxy Tab has found itself mired in controversy over the apparent premium price Samsung – and its carrier distributors – is charging. In the UK, pre-orders have currently settled at around £530 ($830), the same local price as a 16GB iPad WiFi + 3G; in the US, meanwhile, Verizon has been the only network to announce solid numbers, prompting an outbreak of surprise by asking $599.99 for the unsubsidized slate.
Leaked figures from T-Mobile USA, meanwhile, have previously suggested the GSM carrier will be offering the Galaxy Tab at $399 with a two-year data plan, still an expensive option. It seems a risky strategy on Samsung’s part (though carriers set the final subsidized numbers, they’re obviously dependent on the manufacturer’s RRP and wholesale cost), when many had hoped they would significantly undercut the iPad in an attempt to secure market share (and for what is a significantly smaller device).
What must be remembered is that Samsung doesn’t intend to echo Apple’s market approach: a single model with what will probably be a yearly refresh cycle. Instead, as we’ve seen with their Galaxy S family of Android smartphones, the company is planning numerous more Galaxy Tab family slates, both with smaller and larger touchscreens than the 7-inch original. The likelihood is that we can expect the middle-ground between 4-inch Galaxy S and 7-inch Galaxy Tab to also occupy the middle-ground in pricing, to avoid stepping on the toes of either. Samsung’s play is to capitalize on the inherently niche nature of tablets, offering more targeted models built around a core platform and, presumably, hoping the combined sales are enough to sustain the project.
At the other end of the scale there are cheaper slates such as the Advent Vega, a 10-inch Tegra 2 based Froyo tablet headed to the UK market at the start of November, and priced at a mere £250 ($390). In return there’s a barely tweaked version of Android, rather than the custom apps Samsung has worked on, and the assumption that the target audience will prioritize affordability above all else. The company tells us they’re looking to put Gingerbread on the slate when it becomes available, potentially making the Vega both a cost-effective and functional option, though we’ll need to wait until the reviews filter through before knowing for sure.
Android isn’t the only platform; RIM has been gradually drip-feeding us with more information on their BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, expected to reach the market in early 2011. Earlier this week the Canadian company confirmed they would be matching the iPad’s 16GB, 32GB and 64GB SKUs, while co-CEO Jim Basillie took time to rail against Steve Jobs’ tablet commentary. “7-inch tablets will actually be a big portion of the market” he insisted, suggesting that was common knowledge “for those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field.” Still, the PlayBook will likely reach the market around the time Apple’s second-gen iPad does, something we can guess will answer most of the criticisms of the first model while at the same time biting away at the BlackBerry slate’s impressive feature set. RIM’s play will be the enterprise market so traditionally enamored with their smartphone line though, as we’ve seen with the iPhone, Apple has proved itself adept at taking an initially consumer-focused device and adding enterprise functionality. Anecdotal evidence has already suggested that business users are eyeing the iPad and finding ways to integrate it into their workday, leaving Cupertino a primed audience.
There are, of course, a few outliers. The HP Slate 500, for instance, finally made its official debut this week, stubbornly sticking with Windows 7 (HP’s webOS slates aren’t expected until 2011). The company has refined its targeting for the 8.9-inch tablet, no longer positioning it as a device for everyone but instead playing on its corporate skills. There’s also a significant advantage in its touchscreen technology, pairing the capacitive touch layer which the iPhone/iPad has made popular with an active digitizer for more precise stylus use. As we know from previous Windows 7 tablets, it’s something business users come to expect as well as something which significantly improves the OS experience. HP’s pricing is also strong – $799 including a desktop dock – perhaps not in comparison with consumer models, but against other Windows 7 slates (like Onkyo’s three model range, now available in the US via importers) and convertible notebooks with hybrid touchscreen displays. As ever, the target is vertical markets like healthcare, though HP will need to prove the Slate 500′s battery life first and then convince corporations that consistency in platforms is worthwhile.
Sharp, meanwhile, has taken a more unusual step and abandoned its traditional PC business in favor of chasing the tablet ereader market with its Galapagos range, though beyond talk of a carrier partnership with Verizon the US details are still scarce. Barnes & Noble are tipped to be augmenting their NOOK range of ereaders with a low-cost tablet – believed to be around the $249 mark – again predominantly focused on ebooks but with the addition of internet browsing. Both companies have turned to Android for the OS.
With his reputation for guiding the tech industry by Apple’s example, it’s easy to overlook that Steve Jobs is preaching one single vision of how tablet computing might pan out. To assume that his sole justification for bypassing 7-inch or similar models is usability, however, is naive. His job is to sell users on the Apple/iOS/iTunes/App Store ecosystem, and to put into place the best range of high-profile devices to suit; keeping that range tightly focused is in the best interest of the Cupertino company’s cachet. That needn’t mean another company shouldn’t carve its own niche; 7-inch slates have portability benefits, for instance, while Android’s arguably fragmentary nature – as evidenced by the variety of approaches manufacturers have taken with it – could potentially be reframed as a positive sign of the OS’ flexibility. Unfortunately, with manufacturer confusion seemingly at an all-time high, it’s unsurprising that consumers are similarly bewildered by the products they see hitting the market today and in tomorrow’s pipeline.
Rumors that Barnes & Noble plan to launch a color tablet ereader look even more likely, with the discovery that the bookseller has registered nookcolor.com. The domain name suggests that the upcoming device will indeed be called the Nook Color; it’s also tipped to have a 7-inch display, run Android and be priced at a mere $249.
That color display, however, may not be an LCD panel as we’ve seen on some devices; instead, there are rumors that a color e-paper technology, such as Qualcomm’s mirasol, might be implemented. According to the domain record, B&N bought the URL back in March 2010, though it was most recently updated this month. The company’s launch event is next Tuesday.
Barnes & Noble has an announcement to make this coming Tuesday, October 26th. And, while the venue may suggest that it’s not going to be a big announcement, a source speaking with CNET claims differently. In fact, the source’s suggestion is that Barnes & Noble is getting ready to unveil a brand new eReader, named the nook Color. And, aptly so, considering this new eReader will supposedly feature not only a color display, but also a touchscreen.
The source, who refuse to be named, says that the entire company has been focused on this new design for their popular nook eReader. Features wise, the new nook Color is said to have a 7-inch color touchscreen display, be powered by the Android mobile Operating System, and should have a retail price of $249. The unnamed individuals says that the nook Color won’t have the same functionality as Apple’s iPad, but that considering the huge price differential, that the device’s niche market location should still entice plenty of new customers. The individual also pointed out Amazon, saying that, “It’s a big step ahead, instead of chasing Amazon.”
The big mystery is the display. There’s no word on who Barnes & Noble is using to make the display work for their needs, but some suggest that it could be the Qualcomm-backed Mirasol. That particular company has shown prototypes of color display eReaders in the past, but those aren’t said to be ready to until 2011. There’s also the possibility that Barnes & Noble could be using something completely different, which would also be part of the announcement. We don’t have long to wait, as the announcement is scheduled for Tuesday, so stay tuned.
