Nov 16

Nook Color review

Posted in: barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, ebooks, review, Today's Chili, video

It’s hard to believe we’re already writing a review of the Nook Color, considering Barnes & Noble’s first foray into the e-reader world was revealed just over a year ago. In that time, the company has gone from no presence in e-books to owning 20 percent of the marketshare, and now has moved from a somewhat sluggish hybrid E-Ink / LCD device to a full color, tablet-like product. The Nook Color is definitely a major step forward, boasting a completely revamped, Android-based OS, and a big push into the children’s book and periodical market (particularly full color magazines). Both of these spaces have yet to be mined successfully by players like Apple and Amazon — and it’s clear Barnes & Noble is aware of the stakes. Beyond book reading, the Nook Color potentially offers a tablet alternative that can (or will be able to) do much of what is possible on an iPad or Galaxy Tab. In fact, the company plans to launch its own Android tablet app store in the first quarter of 2011, providing a consistent, compatible application experience that could get the jump on other Android tablet-makers’ plans (hello Samsung). Of course, this is a fierce market, and with a $249 price tag, Barnes & Noble has to play to win on every front. So, is the Nook Color the next logical step in e-readers? Is it a healthy alternative to more expensive tablets? And can it cement the prominent bookseller’s place in a hotly contested new space? Read on for all those answers in the full Engadget review!

Gallery: Nook Color review

Continue reading Nook Color review

Nook Color review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Nov 16

Nook Color now shipping to early birds, limited retail

Posted in: barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, BestBuy, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, launch, LCD, now shipping, NowShipping, official, on sale, OnSale, release, shipping, Today's Chili, walmart

The $249 Nook Color has decided its November 19th shipping date wasn’t soon enough so it’s jumped ahead of it with pre-order deliveries starting today. Barnes and Noble’s Nook-with-a-hook will be cheering those who reserved or pre-ordered it as shipping ramps up through this week, and there’ll even be some “very limited” quantities that you’ll be able to buy at retail locations like B&N, Best Buy, Walmart, and Books-A-Million stores. All of them should be getting live units for the curious to try out the Nook Color as well. As to the older, less chromatically able Nooks, B&N is promising a firmware update next week. Skip past the break for the full PR.

Continue reading Nook Color now shipping to early birds, limited retail

Nook Color now shipping to early birds, limited retail originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Oct 28

Nook Color processor revealed: ARM Cortex A8-based TI OMAP3621

Posted in: arm, barnes and noble, barnes noble, BarnesAndNoble, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, nook, processor, texas instruments, ti, Today's Chili
Barnes & Noble provided most of the specs for the Nook Color when it launched the device on Tuesday, but notably absent was any word on the processor that powers the e-reader. Thankfully, Texas Instruments has now come out confirmed that the Nook Color uses its ARM Cortex A8-based, 45nm OMAP3621 processor (still no word on the speed). What’s more, the processor is actually part of TI’s eBook Development Platform, which the Nook Color also relies on. That’s particularly interesting considering that the processor and platform support a few features that the Nook Color does not, not the least of which is 3G connectivity. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll see a future Nook Color that takes advantage of those features, but at least we know it’s not too much of a stretch for Barnes & Noble to add them.

Update: Texas Instruments pinged us to say the chip within the Nook Color hums along at 800MHz.

Nook Color processor revealed: ARM Cortex A8-based TI OMAP3621 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceTexas Instruments  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Oct 26

Nook Color first hands-on! (updated: with video)

Posted in: barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, breaking news, BreakingNews, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, hands-on, nook, Today's Chili
Sure, the lighting’s not great and its only a mock-up at this point, but that’s Barnes & Noble’s new Nook Color. We’re being told there will be a chance to handle a real working unit soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the shots below!

Update: We just got some more time with a functional unit, and while we aren’t allowed to use it, we can say the build quality is sturdy, there’s a good rubber backing, and the viewing angles are quite nice. It’s crisp, too, the screen, although page turning is somewhat sluggish, the software perhaps not finished. Article view is a nice touch, being able to read just the piece formatting-free — and you can skim through the articles alone by swiping to the left and right. You want some more shots of the UI in action? You know where to look.

Update 2: Well, that was tough! We finally got some “alone time” with the Nook Color, although we still weren’t allow to put our apparently grimy fingers on it. You can check it out in the video below, but we still seem to think there’s some software tweaking going on as it’s a bit sluggish to switch through menus. While we’re still of the mind that this device should have had a PixelQi or Mirasol display, we can report that the LCD is responsive to finger swipes and the viewing angles are quite good (believe us, we were looking at this thing from all angles as book-loving journalists swarmed it.) We can’t and won’t make a final call on the Color until we get one into our hands, but the video below should give you a better idea of the UI and performance until then.

Gallery: Working Nook Color hands-on

Gallery: Nook Color mockup hands-on!

Continue reading Nook Color first hands-on! (updated: with video)

Nook Color first hands-on! (updated: with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Oct 26

Nook Color first hands-on!

Posted in: barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, breaking news, BreakingNews, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, hands-on, nook, Today's Chili
Sure, the lighting’s not great, but what you’re looking at is the first look at Barnes & Noble’s new Nook Color. We’re going back for seconds, but in the meantime, enjoy!

Gallery: Nook Color first hands-on!

Nook Color first hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Oct 26

Barnes & Noble Nook Color revealed

Posted in: barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, breaking news, BreakingNews, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, LCD, nook, Today's Chili, touchscreen

Barnes & Noble just unveiled its all-new Nook Color, an Android tablet fronted by a 7-inch color touchscreen… so long, e-ink! (Not really, the $149 original Nook is sticking around for now, owns 20 percent of the e-reader market, and is about to get a major software update). B&N is billing it as a hybrid of e-reader and tablet device, and has beefed up its software with a full-on tablet-style UI, along with Facebook and Twitter integration. There’s built-in WiFi (802.11b/g/n) and 8GB of storage, but no 3G at this point. Thankfully, the price stays aggressive as a result: $249. You might think that means the screen is going to be weak, but B&N has managed to put an impressive-sounding “VividView,” 16 million color, 1024 x 600 IPS display in this thing. Interestingly, there’s a “full lamination screen film” on top of the LCD to reduce glare, apparently from the backlight, not just from external light sources.

Build-wise, there’s that striking corner handle we saw before (smacks of the XO-3, doesn’t it?) and a microSD slot, with a 0.48-inch thick body and a 15.6 ounce overall weight. Battery life takes a notable hit, of course, with a rating of 8 hours of reading with the WiFi off. Of course, underneath it all is still Android, and Barnes & Noble is launching the Nook Developer program to allow third party apps on the device, and it even ships with a few favorites like Pandora and Lonely Planet. The color screen also enables a new library of “Nook Kids” children books, full-color magazine and newspaper subscriptions, and video playback if you’re in the mood. The Nook Color ships on November 19th, pre-orders are available now.

Looking for more? Check our hands-on video, photos, and impressions of the Nook Color!

Gallery: Nook Color press photos

Continue reading Barnes & Noble Nook Color revealed

Barnes & Noble Nook Color revealed originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBarnes & Noble  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Oct 26

Nook Color: Barnes & Noble’s Full-Color Tablet With Apps, Mags and Books for $250 [Video]

Posted in: Android, BarnesAndNoble, Books, kindle, nook, reader, Today's Chili, top

Barnes & Noble’s touchscreen Nook Color—a reading-centric, 7-inch Android tablet with full color books, magazines, newspapers and apps is well, surprisingly good. It might be the best Android tablet yet, even. Update: Video! More »

No Comments | Tags: , , ,
Oct 26

Live from Barnes & Noble’s ‘Very Special Event’

Posted in: barnes and noble, barnes noble, BarnesAndNoble, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, LiveBlog, nook, Today's Chili

To think, it’s been just over a year since Barnes and Noble’s Nook was officially unveiled, a 6-inch e-reader with a secondary, Android-powered colored display for navigation. And here we are now, in attendance at a “very special event” from the bookseller’s Union Square store in New York — for what, we can only guess. Stay tuned, things could get very colorful.

Continue reading Live from Barnes & Noble’s ‘Very Special Event’

Live from Barnes & Noble’s ‘Very Special Event’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , ,
Oct 24

Nook Color revealed by overzealous screen protector?

Posted in: barnes and noble, barnes noble, BarnesAndNoble, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, leak, leaked, leaks, nook, Today's Chili

Barnes & Noble’s done a pretty decent job of keeping a supposed Nook Color hidden from our prying eyes, but an errant accessory may have jumped the gun — the “Nook Color Screen Film Kit,” to be precise, whose product image is pictured immediately above. CNET discovered the protective film hanging out on Barnes & Noble’s website, and quickly grabbed this picture before it could be removed. Even if we’re legitimately looking at the new Nook, of course, this doesn’t tell us much about the seemingly button-less product underneath. How’s this: We’ll go out on a limb and tell you it’s got a color touchscreen.

Nook Color revealed by overzealous screen protector? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceCNET  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Oct 22

Nookcolor.com domain snapped up by Barnes & Noble, hints at Nook Color device

Posted in: barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, nook, rumor, Today's Chili

At some future point in time, when the technology finally allows it, all ebook reader displays will make the jump to color. Perhaps that’s what Barnes and Noble is thinking by registering the nookcolor.com domain. Then again, “Nook Color” is the name rumored for B&N’s new 7-inch color touchscreen device said to cost a mere $249. Or maybe it’s just a collection of colorful snap-on bezels for its existing Nook. Whatever it is, we’ll be treated with the truth on Tuesday when B&N hosts its very special event. Be there won’t you, we will.

[Thanks, Matthew C.]

Nookcolor.com domain snapped up by Barnes & Noble, hints at Nook Color device originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 02:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWhois  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,