Hasta La Gadget!

Remember that web browser that was found hiding in the Nook’s search function? It’s time could be nigh. According to a leaked memo acquired by TechCrunch, Barnes & Nobel will be updating the Nook Simple Touch and Simple Touch with Glowlight with an email app, web browser and an updated store next month. The update will reportedly be sent over the air starting on June 1st and rolling out to all devices in the following weeks. The idea isn’t too far fetched — the Simple Touch is running a skinned version of Android. Nook owners not willing to wait for the official patch can always root the device of course, which comes with some peripheral advantages. Check out TechCrunch for a look the full memo.

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Source: TechCrunch

Barnes & Noble has slashed the prices of its entire NOOK ereader range in the UK, including making its NOOK Simple Touch just £29 ($45), as part of what the company says is a temporary promotion. The discounting, which comes alongside a UK literacy push, means the Simple Touch is now the cheapest ereader on the UK market, B&N claims; its backlit NOOK Simple Touch GlowLight sibling is also reduced.

If you want easier bedtime reading, the backlit model is down from £109 to £69 ($107). The system works well in our experience; our review is here.

Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble’s tablet-ereaders are also discounted. The NOOK HD is priced from £129 ($200), down from £159, for instance – you can find our review of it here – while the NOOK HD+ is priced from £179 ($278), cutting £50 from the previous price.

Multiple retailers should be offering the new prices, though we’re already seeing some stock wobbles in some online stores. Exactly how long the promotion will last is unclear, and whether it will be followed up with an all-new range is questionable.

B&N slashes NOOK in UK: Promo or firesale? is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While the device may be old news for those living in the states, Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Simple Touch is now available for those who live across the pond in the UK. The regular model, as well as the Glowlight model, are now available to purchase. Plus, the UK can now also pre-order the NOOK HD and the NOOK HD+, which is set to arrive late next month.

Retailers such as John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, and if course Barnes & Noble‘s own Nook.co.uk site are now officially stocked up on NOOK Simple Touch ereaders. The regular model is priced at £79, while the Glowlight model (which has a front-lit display) will cost you £109. Those who purchase the device will have access to Barnes & Noble’s 2.5 million ebooks.

The company is also bringing their NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ over to the UK starting in late-November, but they’re available to pre-order online right now. The NOOK HD is a 7-inch tablet, while the NOOK HD+ comes with two more inches of screen real estate for those who want a bigger display. The NOOK HD will cost £159, and £229 will get you the NOOK HD+.

If you’re looking for a cheap, simple ereader, the NOOK Simple Touch is about as basic as it gets. We really like the Glowlight model, but the regular $99 model is a steal. It can store around 1,000 ebooks, but the microSD card slot makes it easy to upgrade storage space. Plus, the battery can last for up to two months.

NOOK Simple Touch released in UK, NOOK HD and HD+ available for pre-order is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Barnes & Noble has made the expected NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight price cut official, rising to the challenge set by Amazon’s new Kindle Paperwhite. The NOOK – which, as with Amazon’s new ereader, has an illuminated display for nighttime reading – has been cut to a Kindle-matching $119, down twenty bucks from its launch price. However, B&N claims, the bargain doesn’t end there.

In fact, the bookseller would rather you look at exactly what you get for your money – and what you don’t get. The NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight, for instance, includes an AC adapter, whereas Amazon only includes a microUSB cable for recharging the Kindle Paperwhite; adding the official Amazon adapter is $9.99 more, though of course the Kindle should work with most generic USB chargers.

Meanwhile, B&N’s ereader doesn’t have any sponsored adverts, unlike the $119 Kindle. Amazon offers the option to do away with ads, but that will cost you another $20. Whether they frustrate you – the promoted content shows up on the lock screen, but not within ebooks themselves – depends on how willing you are to give up space in your home for commercials.

Of course, those upgrading from an existing Kindle or NOOK probably already know which model they want: they’ve likely bought into an ecosystem of ebooks already. Books purchased on Amazon’s store won’t work on B&N’s ereader hardware, and vice-versa. You can find our review of the Kindle Paperwhite here.

B&N makes NOOK Simple Touch GlowLight price cut official is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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.