Hasta La Gadget!

Last night, we got a tip telling us that this morning, Barnes and Noble’s ship date for the Nook would slip further — from the previously known date of January 11th to January 15th. And hey, what do you know? The BN website is now showing an expected ship date of January 15th — though it seems this would be the shipping date for new pre-orders, not for pre-existing ones. Disappointing for all of us who are expectantly awaiting our units, no doubt, but there’s the possibility of further bad news. The last time we checked in, the Nook was expected in some Barnes and Noble retail stores on the 7th of December. This tipster, who as we’ve just mentioned proved spot on with the expected shipping date (and whose name we know, though they’ve asked us not to print it), also says that no Barnes and Noble stores will have actual Nooks on hand until after Christmas. Of course, we have no way of knowing if this information will turn out to be correct, but at this point, we thought it seemed a decent enough piece of “possible” to pass on.

Update: We’ve just spoken with a Barnes & Noble rep, and they say they will have the Nook in select stores on Monday, December 7th, so we’re just going to have to be patient and see.

Update 2: If it was not clear enough, this new date of January 15th (as well as the previous date of January 11th) seems to pertain ONLY to new pre-orders of the device — not orders placed before the initial run sold out.

Update 3: And the in-store delay is official… Barnes & Noble is now confirming that the Nook will NOT be available in stores on Monday, as it’s “intent on fulfilling earlier preorders.”

[Thanks, unnamed]

Nook ship date pushed back to January 15th for new pre-orders, no Nooks in stores before Christmas? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Barnes & Noble has quietly delayed shipments of the Nook a week further into January, to Jan. 11, according to its Web site.

This isn’t good news for the Nook, which has essentially ceded the holiday selling season to the Amazon Kindle, even though it’s feature set puts it on par or arguably ahead of Amazon’s own e-reader. Lance Ulanoff, our prolific editor-in-chief, puts forward seven great reasons why e-readers will make terrific holiday gifts.

Arguably, though, the three most popular e-readers are the Nook and the Sony Reader, as well as the Kindle. But a note on the Reader Web site notes that the latest $399 Reader Daily Edition will begin shipping on Dec. 18, dangerously close to Christmas and missing most of Hanukkah; Sony already warned in November that the devices would sell on a first-come, first-serve basis.The $299 Reader Touch Edition will ship on Dec. 8, however, indicating that there are many more in stock.

Can we jump to the conclusion that the Kindle has already “won” the holiday season? Based on Amazon’s own sales reports, the conventional wisdom is heading in that direction. The gift certificates that Barnes & Noble are providing in place of Nooks only offer a minute or two of reading by a warm fire. The Kindle offers far, far, more.

If you missed getting in your Nook pre-order there’s still hope to nab the dual-display Barnes & Noble reader in time for the holidays. A Wall Street Journal piece says that Nook will be “available for sale or for demonstration purposes” in select, high-volume B&N stores starting December 7th — a week later than expected as B&N tries to fulfill unexpectedly high consumer demand following the ereader’s October 20th announcement. Of course, it’s impossible to say if the sell-out translates to high sales or just poor planning on B&N’s part as it dips a tentative toe into the fickle waters of consumer electronics. Nevertheless, anyone who ordered before November 20th will still receive theirs for Christmas while everyone else will receive theirs on January 4th as we already heard. Now if only Barnes & Noble would clarify what it means by “high-volume stores” we could plan our road-trips accordingly.

[Thanks, Arthur]

Nook begins shipping, in select Barnes & Noble stores on December 7th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

A few nasty rumors were circulating that Barnes & Noble wouldn’t accept its own gift cards for ebook purchases, but thankfully, the outfit has come clean today to refute those claims. ‘Course, it’s possible that this change in policy was a direct result of all the bickering, but either way, the company will be accepting physical gift cards and online gift certificates as payment for ebooks really, really soon. The cards will work on purchases made at B&N’s website and through the Nook itself (not to mention “other devices using the B&N eReader software), and we’re told that the new policy will be in full effect come “mid-December.” In other words, all those gift cards you just purchased as stocking stuffers for to-be Nook owners are good to go. Phew.

[Thanks, David]

Barnes & Noble accepting gift cards for ebook purchases starting mid-December originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Looking to buy a Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader in time for the holidays? Better place your orders now.

When B&N first announced the e-reader on Oct. 21, it said they would be available by the end of November, but people purchasing the devices online are now being told that they will have to wait until Dec. 11, according to Brighthand.com.

If you already pre-ordered, you are scheduled to ship on Nov. 30, but future buyers will have to wait an extra week or so. That is, if the devices actually make it to the shelves. Last week, Spring Design filed suit against B&N, accusing them of stealing the idea for the Nook and asking the court to stop B&N from selling their device.