Hasta La Gadget!

Barnes & Noble has again slashed NOOK prices in the UK, following its admission last month that it is clearing stock of the ereading tablets after deciding to instead license out the brand in future rather than build its own models. The NOOK HD will be offered from £99 for the 8GB model (or £129 for the 16GB version), £30 cheaper than B&N’s last promotion.

As for the NOOK HD+, the bigger version of the Android slate with a 9-inch display, that also gets a price cut. The 16GB model is £149, again £30 cheaper than the last promotion (and £80 less than the original RRP), while the 32GB version is £179.

Barnes & Noble is calling this round of discounting a “temporary” one, though given the troubles the NOOK range is facing we’d be very surprised if more price cuts didn’t follow on afterwards. The NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight is on sale a £69 in the UK, with the non-illuminated version even cheaper (and out of stock at B&N’s official UK store).

NOOK is feeling the pressure from Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Apple’s iPad/iPad mini, forcing drastic measures. The company saw sales of the division – covering hardware, content, and accessories – plummet 34-percent in the most recent financial quarter, and as a result opted to split the range.

In future, B&N will continue to produce the e-paper based NOOK models itself, but will leave NOOK Android tablets to third-party manufactures. The NOOK brand itself will be licensed out, as the company tries to slim its development costs.

NOOK HD gets another price slash as B&N tries to shed stock is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Starting this week, Barnes & Noble NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ devices will be receiving access to the official Google Play app and digital content store straight from the source. Where since the birth of the NOOK line of ereaders, each Android-based device worked specifically and only with the Barnes & Noble Shop for books and movies, users will now have the ability to access both Google apps and Google Music. There’s only one catch – if you’d call it a catch, that is.

The way a user accesses the Google Play digital content store from their NOOK HD or NOOK HD+ device is through a notification which will be appearing on their device starting this week. This notification will have an opt-in option which downloads the Google Play store. With this download comes the full collection of Google services such as Gmail, YouTube, Google+, Google Search, Chrome browser, and Google Maps.

These apps come instantly when you download Google Play, each of them a requirement if you’d like to work with Google Play. Other than these additions, the NOOK experience remains entirely the same. Once you’ve downloaded Google Play and these apps all at once, the first time you tap any of them you’ll be asked to either create or log in to your Google account.

The NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ are the first two devices to be working with Google Play and will likely not be the last. This is the start of a relationship between Barnes & Noble and Google that we’re expecting will send ripples through the ereader industry – or at least send a shock over to Amazon. Have a peek at the NOOK timeline below to see events leading up to this release and let us know if this addition will be pushing you into the NOOK universe.

NOOK HD gains access to Google Play, apps required is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

NOOK users may be avid readers, but they may also need their daily dose of inspiration, whether that’d be ideas for DIY projects or just entertaining photos. Barnes & Noble announced today that Pinterest is now available for NOOK devices, allowing you to browse through creations and other pieces of inspiration right from your NOOK.

Furthermore, the app will come pre-loaded for new NOOK devices starting today. However, it seems that the app will only work on the NOOK HD, NOOK HD+, NOOK Tablet, and the NOOK Color. For those who already have a NOOK device, you can download the Pinterest app right now, allowing you to resume pinning from on-the-go in no time.

Pinterest joins Facebook and Twitter as one of the handful of apps pre-loaded on NOOK devices. Claudia Romanini, who is the vice president of NOOK apps at Barnes & Noble, says that Pinterest has “long been one of” the company’s most requested apps, so we’re positive that most NOOK users will benefit greatly from the addition of Pinterest.

Barnes & Noble has been trying to get the NOOK series back on track recently, and the company is working slowly to accomplish that. They recently launched the NOOK Press self-publishing platform, as well as the ability for in-app purchases in order to reel in more bacon. The addition of Pinterest might not make great strides with the company, but it could put them in right direction.

Pinterest now available on Barnes & Noble NOOK devices is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Video store has launched in the UK, offering TV and movie purchases and rental on the NOOK HD and HD+ tablets, in addition to UltraViolet digital copies of existing DVD and Blu-ray purchases. The freshly-opened store also features new content, after B&N inked new deals with BBC Worldwide, HBO, Sony Pictures, and others, in both standard- and high-definition.

NBCUniversal, STARZ, and Warner Bros. Entertainment have also got content in the new store, and B&N will offer both streaming and direct-to-device downloads as playback options, depending on your connectivity and preference. Other studio deals are in the pipeline, B&N claims.

NOOK Video is also the first digital provider to support UltraViolet in the UK. Intended to deliver the best of both physical and digital media, UltraViolet makes digital copies of movies available to buyers of select DVD and Blu-ray content.

The NOOK HD and HD+ went on sale in the UK in late November, priced from £159 for the 7-inch HD and from £229 for the 9-inch HD+. NOOK Video is already available for NOOK HD/HD+ users in the US.

NOOK Video store goes live in UK: First to support UltraViolet is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Three months is a long time in tablet-land, it seems. Since we last brought you a buyer’s guide, a few things have changed. In fact, this is probably the biggest shake-up yet, with not only the long-rumored iPad mini making an appearance, but also new offerings from two other big guns — Microsoft and Google. Oh, and that means there’s a whole new species of device altogether. With Windows RT finally shipping, there’s new hardware to go with it, and we expect to see more popping up on the list in the months to come. This is all good news for you prospective tablet owners, as more competition can only mean more choice. With more options, though, comes more confusion. That’s where we come in, armed with a few notable picks. Read on to find out what made the cut this season.

Continue reading Engadget’s tablet buyer’s guide: fall 2012 edition

Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, ASUS, Google

Engadget’s tablet buyer’s guide: fall 2012 edition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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