Search Results for nook color

Dual-Boot Your Nook Color the Easy Way

Maybe you’ve heard here on Gear Diary that the NOOKcolor makes an excellent Android tablet. If you’re feeling confined by the stock operating system on the nook, even with its new app offerings, there’s always the option of trying a full Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) installation. However, this requires not only a bit of time and patience but a level of comfort with creating either a bootable SD card or <gulp> reflashing the internal NOOK memory. If you go with plan B, well, you’re a brave soul who doesn’t need B&N’s NOOK interface at all. But the stock NOOK reader is…

eBooks, Editorials

Were More NOOKcolors Rooted Than We Thought?

The new NOOK Tablet is out, and slowly but surely more details about how it is different from its NOOKcolor predecessor are being released. For most users, the Tablet is a great upgrade; better screen, more memory, more multimedia options…it’s a win all around. But what about the people who loved their NOOKcolors for their supreme hackability? According to The Digital Reader, it appears that B&N has locked the bootloader on the NOOKTablet. In English, this means they’ve added an additional level of security, making rooting (and installing the Android marketplace, etc) a far more difficult proposition. It’s hardly the…

eBooks, Reviews

Speck FitFolio for NOOKcolor Review

The NOOKcolor is a great device, but like all electronics it needs a certain degree of protection. Loose in a bag there are too many things that could scratch, crack, or damage the screen or plastic body. But cases that offer total protection often add significant bulk, or are awkward to hold, or have various other tradeoffs. The Speck FitFolio appears to address all of that; is it the perfect blend of protection and size, or a swing and a miss? Read on to find out! First, here’s what Speck has to say: Protective padded cover with microsuede interior Custom…

Reviews

Otterbox Commuter for NOOKcolor Review

So you’ve picked up a shiny new NOOKcolor, and you need a good case for it. Something sturdy that can withstand your day-to-day abuse. Luckily for the hardcore gadget abusers among us all, Otterbox has a Commuter Case for the NOOKcolor. Does it live up to the Otterbox name, and is it worthy of being slapped on your precious eReader? Read on to find out! Like all the cases in the Commuter series, the NOOK version comes with three parts; a screen protector, a fitted silicon case, and a plastic shell that fits around the outside. While it does add…

eBooks, Reviews

B&N NOOKcolor Software Update and App Store Review

When I reviewed the NOOKcolor back in December, I was very impressed with it, and the device has only improved with time. B&N’s latest update is a dramatic one, adding Android 2.2, flash, an app store, and several other small tweaks and goodies. Is this update enough to lure users with promises of a more tablet-like experience? Read on to find out! (If you’re not familiar with the NOOKcolor, head over to my review to get a decent overview of where it started, since this article focuses mainly on the new changes and additions.) Section One, Apps: This…

eBooks, Reviews

NOOKColor Morphs from Quiet Little eBook Reader to Killer Little Android Tablet

If you have been following along here at Gear Diary you probably have seen Carly’s review of the NOOKColor. The NOOKColor was noted as Barnes and Noble number one seller for the holiday season and it’s pretty easy to understand why. I am not really an eBook user and don’t often find myself reading too many books, but what I do enjoy is pretty much anything Android and the hardware that it runs on. So far you’ve seen what the $250 devices gets you, a full featured, beautiful color screen eBook reader powered by Android 2.1. It was not days…

eBooks, Reviews

Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor Review

[Ed. note – If you haven’t already, please read part one of this review: First Impressions: NOOKcolor] It’s not often that I start a review with a conclusion, but it’s going to be hard to review the NOOKcolor without stating this up front: It’s an absolutely incredible reading device. I was skeptical that a color, LCD device would be a decent reading experience, and admittedly I still personally prefer eInk, but B&N did a fantastic job making reading front and center on the NOOKcolor. How did they do it, and what could be improved for next time? Read on for…

Reviews

NOOKcolor First Impressions

What happens when a NOOK, an iPad and a Droid meet and have a three-way lovechild? NOOKcolor! Luckily for us (and all of you!), B&N has sent Gear Diary a NOOKcolor to review. Read on for my first impressions of this color eBook reader! My first thought when I opened the shipping box was, “Wow. B&N really took presentation seriously.” The NOOKcolor comes in a sturdy well-designed box, but instead of opening from the top or front, it opens from the bottom with a neat magnetic closure. Instead of being something you might open and toss away, it makes it…

eBooks, Editorials

NOOKcolor and Dictionary.com: An Innovative Partnership

If you’re like me, you’ve probably turned to Dictionary.com thousands of times. Maybe you wanted to make sure you had your spelling right, or you weren’t sure how to pronounce something correctly. Or maybe you were worried you used the word “insouciant” incorrectly. No matter what, you’re heading to Dictionary.com. And despite the name, Dictionary.com offers more than just definitions. There’s pronunciation help, sample sentences to provide context, even word history, and famous quotes! It has moved beyond just “hey, what does this word mean?” and turned into a full-fledged resource for all things linguistic. I had the privilege to…

Editorials

NOOKcolor: Swing and a Miss or a Home Run?

As per internet rumor, Barnes and Noble unveiled their newest addition to the NOOK lineup: NOOKcolor. It’s sort-of an ebook reader, sort-of a tablet, and B&N seems pretty excited and confident it’s going to win them marketshare over the Kindle (and possibly the iPad). I’ve been debating with myself about whether this is going to be successful or blow up in their faces, and the only way to settle this is to lay out both sides. The optimist in me thinks this could be a big win for B&N, and the cynical side of me thinks this is an awful…

News

$199 NOOK Tablet Rumored

B&N has been selling the older NOOKcolor for $199 since the NOOKTablet burst onto the scene. Now it looks like B&N is aiming to retire the NOOKcolor and (hopefully) face off against the Kindle Fire with a NOOK Tablet for $199-the only catch is that it will only have 8GB of memory, and not 16GB like the original NT.

eBooks, News

Barnes & Noble Offers Free and Reduced NOOKS with Subscriptions!

Big news from B&N today! They’re looking to push down the price of the NOOK and drive more subscription services, so they’ve combined the two! You can get a free NOOK Simple Touch or a $99 NOOKcolor with a subscription to the New York Times through B&N ($19.99/month). Alternately, if you are more of the entertainment news type, there’s always a $199 NOOK Tablet with a subscription to People! This is potentially huge for the ebook industry. It turns the reader hardware into a commodity, not the main show. It also pushes prices down while also lining up ongoing cash…

News

NOOKTablet Rooted, but There’s a Big, Honking Catch

Last week I asked if the NOOKcolor had more hacks than apps…and the comments seem to indicate the hackability were a big part of what attracted many buyers to it. At the time, the NOOKTablet was not yet rooted, but it looks like there’s finally been some success on the rooting front. Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as easy as the NOOKcolor’s. First of all, the hack is still very rough around the edges. It involves using the Android SDK, which isn’t hard to install, but it is a pain to use if you aren’t terribly computer savvy. If you read…

Reviews

Nook Touch Cover Review: Oberon Design Large and Small Sleeves

The Hype: For those that like to use their E Reader without a cover, we’ve designed the Oberon E Reader Sleeve with extreme portability in mind. Lighter and thinner than our E Reader Corner Cover, our sleeve fits easily into a purse, backpack or briefcase. Our sleeve is leather lined and our magnet closure ensures the security of your device. We designed our sleeve so that the magnetized strap is on the front of the cover and our signature Britannia pewter strap attachment is on the back to avoid any potential scratching of the E Reader screen. All of our…

eBooks, Reviews

First Impressions: nook Simple Touch Reader

It is perhaps somewhat ironic that I have been reading eBooks of some sort or other on handheld devices for over 20 years, and yet have never owned a dedicated eReader. It is even more ironic that while I live in a house with two nook eReaders (wife and younger son), I have spent very little time with the devices. I attribute the former to my desire to always stay on the cutting edge of technology coupled with the relative newness of dedicated readers; the latter I attribute to a desire to allow others to learn and discover for themselves….

Reviews

JAVOedge Cherry Blossom and Cork Nook Cases Review

Now that the Nook has been around for a little while, some really great cases have started coming out to protect it in style. When I saw the new lines of cases coming out from JAVOedge, I was immediately intrigued and couldn’t wait to get my hands on them! Judie’s recent review of the new Croc cases for Kindle 2 only made me more eager to review the Nook cases. JAVOedge was kind enough to send me two cases from their Cherry Blossom Collection to review and keep for my Nook–the Flip Style Case in Twilight Purple, and the Book…

eBooks, Reviews

The Barnes & Noble nook; or how I managed to completely waste my Saturday on a piece of over-hyped hardware

The Barnes & Noble nook eBook Reader has been touted by some as a Kindle-killer, and after what seemed like a ridiculously long wait, when mine finally showed up today I was ready to be wowed. It’s not that I don’t already enjoy reading eBooks on my Kindle DX (Kevin is using the Kindle2) and on my iPhone, it’s just that the nook was the “next new big thing”, and I allowed myself to be caught up in the excitement. I was perhaps a week later ordering mine than many were, because I found out that American Express Rewards offers…

eBooks, Reviews

First Impressions of the Barnes & Noble nook

All day I have been perking up at the sound of trucks on the street, each time hoping it would be the UPS truck delivering my much-anticipated Christmas present from my wonderful husband–the brand new Barnes & Noble nook eBook reader. My husband pre-ordered my nook on the very first day, so I knew I would get it before December 9. I did a little dance of joy yesterday to learn that he had gotten the tracking number for the shipment and that the nook was winging its way to me overnight!

eBooks

Apple, Publishers, and How eBook Price Fixing Changed the Market

In 2009, several major publishers announced a huge pricing change for eBooks; retailers would sell them only at the price set by the publisher, and no one could apply any discounts or coupons. The move was anti-competitive and clearly aimed at attacking Amazon, but what really struck everyone was the company behind the curtain. Apple had just announced the iPad, and they seemed quite confident that the projected $12.99-$14.99 prices for iBooks would not be undercut, a suspicious claim since Amazon sold those titles for $9.99. The assumption was that Apple had worked with the publishers to create this price-fixed…

eBooks, News

Barnes and Noble Goes Hollywood

Barnes and Noble needed something big to compete against the Kindle Fire, and today they announced one part of what that might be: NOOK Video. Details are light, but it sounds like this will be a streaming and pay for download service. In fact, it sounds an awful lot like Amazon Prime Streaming… The big question here is software and price. B&N says they plan to offer NOOK Video to PCs, smartphones and tablets, so this sounds more like a whole new spinoff of NOOK offerings than a one-off designed to add value to the NOOK Tablet lines. Amazon Prime…

eBooks, News

Are eInk Holding’s Earnings a Sign of a Non-Tablet Reader Slowdown?

Here’s some news to file under the “maybe a concern” category. It looks like eInk Holdings, the company that makes those beautiful eInk screens for NOOKs and Kindles, had a bad quarter. According to DigiTimes, this was their first set of poor earnings in over two years, and the company is saying it was due to “inventory adjustments”, aka they had fewer orders for new screens. This isn’t good news, but I wouldn’t hold a funeral for eInk just yet. Yes, we are coming off a holiday season where the hot items were the NOOK Color and Tablet and the…

1 2 3 … 6 »