Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon’s shiny new Kindle Paperwhite will start trickling out of the company’s myriad warehouses in short order, but it seems e-reading rival Barnes & Noble won’t let Amazon set foot in the illuminated e-reader market unanswered.

To that end, B&N has announced that it has cut the price of its conceptually similar Nook SimpleTouch with GlowLight from $139 to $119 — the same price as Amazon’s ad-supported Paperwhite model.

It’s easy to look at the move as a knee-jerk reaction to Amazon’s impending Paperwhite Kindle launch, but Barnes & Noble claims it’s anything but. Apparently, the price cut has been in the works for “months” now as part of the company’s planning, though I’ve got to wonder if Amazon’s announcement earlier this month may have helped force B&N’s hand a bit. After all, it has gotten to be pretty good at using price cuts to try and disrupt some of Amazon’s thunder — as Kindle Fire HD rumors picked up steam last August, B&N cut the prices of its Nook Tablet line. Of course, Barnes now has some neat new tablets to push, as we head into the holidays, but the move at least keeps those older tablets in competition with Amazon’s earlier Fire.

B&N may have just made the cut official, but a few retailers were perhaps a bit too quick to pull the trigger. Target and Walmart (two companies that have coincidentally dropped Amazon’s e-readers from their inventory) both acknowledged the Glowlight-enabled Nook’s updated price yesterday. Now the B&N site reflects that pricing change as well, and just in time — the country’s annual bout of holiday shopping hysteria is just around the corner, and this move toward pricing parity should force consumers to weigh their e-reading options based on each device’s merits rather than which would hurt their wallets the least.

Amazon‘s impressive new Kindle Paperwhite is set to launch in just a couple of days, but Barnes and Noble has decided that its going to put up a fight. Both Target and Walmart are showing that the price of the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight has been cut just ahead of the Paperwhite’s launch. The new price of the Nook GlowLight? $119, the same price that Amazon has given the basic Paperwhite model.

Of course, one of the biggest differences between the Paperwhite and the Nook GlowLight is that the Paperwhite will show you “special offers,” which is just fancy PR talk for “advertisements.” In order to banish the advertisements from your Paperwhite, you’ll have to pay a fee. The Nook GlowLight doesn’t show any advertisements, and now that Barnes and Noble has brought the price down to match that of the Paperwhite, it might be able to steal some sales away from Amazon.

This doesn’t look like a limited time promotion either – Target’s ad says that the Nook GlowLight’s price has been cut, rather than saying that it’s merely on sale or that this is a special offer. It’s worth pointing out, however, that Barnes and Noble’s own listing for the Nook GlowLight still shows a $139 price tag (as does Target’s online listing – only the in-store ad shows a price of $119), so it’s possible that Walmart and Target are just bringing their prices down to move some units quickly before the Paperwhite arrives. One thing is certain, however: if you’ve been waiting to pick up a Nook GlowLight, now is the time to buy.

That’s especially true when you consider that Amazon won’t be shipping new Paperwhite orders until near the end of October. Demand is apparently so high that Amazon had to push the ship date for new orders back to October 22, but whether that’s because of sheer popularity or a component shortage is unknown. Whatever the reason, this shipping delay should allow Barnes and Noble to net a few extra Nook GlowLight sales now that the eReader is sporting a lower price tag at some retailers.

[via CNET]

Nook GlowLight gets a price cut as Paperwhite launch approaches is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you were looking for another reason to pick up a new Nook tablet – revealed earlier today – you’ll find it in Barnes & Noble’s announcement of Nook Video, a streaming service they’re set to release to fight Netflix and Amazon’s efforts in the video universe. While Amazon does indeed have a tablet competitor for the Nook line in their own Kindle Fire HD (and the rest), they don’t have the same key-word that Barnes & Noble is coming up with: UltraViolet – and the same, basically, goes for Netflix. With HBO, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros, and Starz already signing up for the Nook Video team, there very well could be some clout to the book company’s claims.

What we’ve got here, according to Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating speaking with Business Week, is “a complete library from all the leading studios.” With the introduction to this initiative showing off next to no final details as far as pricing goes, investors have been left in the dark. Amazon Prime Instant Videos makes the Kindle Fire a beast to be reckoned with, and every single Android tablet and the Apple iPad are able to work with Netflix – that’s a monster of a market to deal with.

The Nook Video service will be launching this Fall along with the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+. Take a peek at our hands-on with that duo of next-generation content-filled tablets right this minute. Then hear this: Nook Video will also be launching in the UK by the winter holidays. This means a global launch may not be that far behind. What we’ve got on our hands here is a real effort by the book-smiths to enter the video content market with the tablet, which came first.

In this way, Barnes & Noble are aiming to becomes another content and hardware company in an already multi-armed market that includes the Kindle Fire and the iPad as well as Google’s own Google Play media market. Will Barnes & Noble be able to keep up the way they’ve done with the ebook industry? We shall see!

Nook Video aims to jab Netflix and Amazon all at once is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When William Barnes and G. Clifford Noble set up their first bookstore in 1917, neither of them could have conceived of an e-reader or tablet, let alone trying to sell one of ’em. Their historical lack of foresight aside, the company outed a pair of second generation slates this morning, and it’s our job to see what technical nips and tucks have been made from version one. If you love to start the day with a spec chart comparison, then why not grab a bowl of cereal and join us after the break?

Continue reading Barnes & Noble Nook HD, HD+ vs. Nook Tablet: what’s changed?

Filed under: Tablets

Barnes & Noble Nook HD, HD+ vs. Nook Tablet: what’s changed? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble has refreshed its NOOK tablet range, revealing the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+, a duo of high-definition Android-based slates with some ambitious aspirations. Replacing the well-esteemed NOOK Tablet, the two new models balance competitive pricing – kicking off at $199 for the 7-incher and $269 for its 9-inch sibling – with impressive specifications, not least eye-catching HD displays. We caught up with B&N for some early playtime with the touchscreen pair.

While the tablet market is ever-expanding, Barnes & Noble has three main competitors: Amazon’s Kindle Fire line-up, recently updated; Google’s low-cost Nexus 7; and Apple’s new iPad. At first glance, however, the two new NOOKs shape up to be worthy alternatives in many ways.

NOOK HD

The smaller of the two new models, the NOOK HD offers the highest resolution display of a 7-inch tablet on the market: 1440 x 900, for 243ppi and support for 720p video playback. Tipping the scales at 315g, it undercuts the Kindle Fire HD and, at 127mm wide, is narrower too; that makes it more comfortable to grip with one hand. B&N has reused the soft-touch plastic coating of the NOOK Simple Touch – here in either “snow” white or “smoke” grey – for an easier to hold design, complete with a contoured back panel.

Inside, there’s a 1.3GHz dualcore OMAP 4470 processor paired with 1GB of RAM and either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage; a microSD card can be used to expand that, and there’s Full HD video output, albeit requiring a special dongle. B&N says the NOOK HD managed 60fps in GL Benchmarks – double what the Kindle Fire HD achieved – and its higher-resolution display uses optical lamination for improved graphics.

It’s certainly an admirable screen, with incredibly broad viewing angles: we were able to get entirely side-on to the slate and still see no color inversion. Side-by-side with a Nexus 7 – a device the screen of which we’ve praised before – and the difference in clarity and color saturation was clear, the NOOK HD coming out ahead of its ASUS-made rival. Google’s pure Android tablet has a front-facing webcam, something the NOOK HD omits, but you do get expandable storage in the B&N slate, along with SRS sound.

Connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth, and there’s a 4050 mAh battery good, B&N claims, for up to 10.5hrs of reading or 9hrs of video playback (with WiFi turned off). As for pricing, that’s competitive too. B&N will be asking $199 for the 8GB NOOK HD and $229 for the 16GB version (£159 and £189 respectively in the UK)

NOOK HD+

The NOOK HD+ steps up a level, delivering a 1920 x 1280 IPS LCD touchscreen that, at 256ppi, comes within spitting distance of the 264ppi new iPad Retina Display. It shares the same processor as the NOOK HD, though running slightly faster at 1.5GHz, along with 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of storage (with a microSD card to augment it). There’s also WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, stereo speakers with SRS sound, and Full HD video output via an HDMI adapter dongle.

Visually, the HD+’s ID is familiar, with the punched circular hole in the bottom left corner reminiscent of previous NOOK slates. Only one color option will be offered, with the HD+ measuring 240.4 x 162.8 x 11.5 mm and weighing 515g. Its 6,000 mAh battery is good for up to 10hrs of reading or 9hrs of video – with WiFi turned off – B&N says.

In the hand, it’s noticeably lighter than the new iPad when the two are compared side-by-side, and the soft-touch plastic is grippy and tactile. The optically-laminated display is beautifully bright and detailed, with icons and graphics looking crisp and text – even at minimal levels of zoom – clear and easy to read. B&N has been working with digital magazine publishers to source higher-quality files for the NOOK Store, so that magazines on the HD and HD+ are both delivered in high-definition, and the payoff is more detailed content.

It’s not the only software tweaking B&N has been doing. There’s now profile support, with the ability to set up different accounts for up to five users on the same tablet. The lockscreen shows all five – you can choose whether to password protect each account or not – and you can quickly switch between profiles from the drop-down in the top left corner.

Each profile can have certain features disabled or enabled, so that for instance you can prevent children from browsing the web or accessing the email app (which supports up to six accounts, including Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync); the NOOK Store can be password protected, and child profiles automatically log into the version filled only with age-appropriate content. Purchased content can be shared between multiple profiles, so that two users can read the same ebook, for instance.

Both new models will have access to the NOOK cloud service for storing ebooks and other content, along with the new NOOK Video store announced yesterday. There will be curated channels of content, too: if, say, you like romance novels, there’ll be a channel of hand-picked ebooks by B&N’s head bookseller together with, eventually, suitable apps for download. During setup, the NOOK HD and HD+ will ask each new owner what categories interest them, loading a few sample pieces to the homescreen so as to make the slates usable out of the box.

The cloud will also be used for storing clippings. Slide your finger down the left edge of the display and the current screen is “torn off” for clipping, with support for filing each snatched page into a different folder. Copies are saved locally and to the cloud, for accessing on all other NOOK hardware and apps, and there’s annotation and highlighting support too. B&N has squeezed in a microphone as well, allowing parents to record a narration of their child’s favorite ebook for subsequent playback.

We asked B&N about how open to hacking the new NOOK tablets it might be, given the popularity of the original NOOK Color among Android modders. The answer was somewhat evasive – B&N doesn’t see that making up a significant share of the market, and in their untampered form you can’t even sideload apps – with no confirmation on what sort of lock-down each NOOK might be subjected to.

Nonetheless, for the mass market the pair make a strong first impression. The 9-inch NOOK HD+ is half the price of the new iPad, and each version has a superb display which looks great both in reading books and playing video. Given the likelihood of a single tablet being shared among multiple family users, the profile support is great – and something which has long been requested for rival tablets.

The B&N NOOK HD and HD+ will go up for preorder in October and should begin shipping in mid-November, as well as appearing on store shelves in time for the holidays. There’ll also be a variety of accessories, including cases with Smart Cover-style active front covers that wake the NOOK HD and HD+ when opened up.

B&N NOOK HD and HD+ revealed: We go hands-on! is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.