Gear Diary » Barnes and Noble NOOK

If An eBookstore Falls in the Internet and No One Hears It…

Carly Z — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:00:53 +0000

(image courtesy nikdaum) eBooknewser reported today that Amazon quietly shut down Mobipocket, an ebook store that those of us with PDA roots probably remember fondly. Amazon purchased Mobipocket and still uses their format as the basis for Kindle books. After reading the post, I headed over to Mobipocket and found what appears to be the internet equivalent of a broken, abandoned storefront. There's no announcement that Mobipocket is gone, but the files appear to have all disappeared. Bestsellers, fiction, non-fiction, everything is just gone, with the exception of a handful of classics that appear on the main page. Meanwhile, things aren't exactly hopping over at eReader/Fictionwise. They haven't carried a new bestseller or mainstream Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Does Anyone Buy eBook Readers For The Hardware Anymore?

Carly Z — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:00:49 +0000

There's an interesting (and honestly, inevitable) trend in the book world lately: no one's talking hardware anymore. Yes, there's new devices, and sales are touted when they're impressive. But the big announcements that come up again and again are "ebook sales are increasing by these triple digits/these authors are making this much money through ebooks/we have this many free ebooks, etc". Plus, all those lovely ebooks are available on tablets, computers, smartphones and dedicated ebook readers...so does it pay for a company to offer the hardware without the ebooks anymore? In my view, the answer is no, and I think 2012 is the year we see many of the unaffiliated hardware drop by the wayside. Sony, Ectaco Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Barnes And Noble Offers Free And Reduced NOOKS With Subscriptions!

Carly Z — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:00:10 +0000

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 flow for B&N and the periodical providers (who I assume are splitting the subsidy costs). Finally, this is a Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Barnes and Noble Reports Their Holiday Sales

Carly Z — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:15:42 +0000

It's good news/bad news/WHOA! news from Barnes & Noble this evening. Everything good they had to say came with some bad news, and with some news that could go either way ... let's look at the good and the bad,21 here! First, NOOKTablet sales were off the charts, and B&N had a 70% increase in sales of ebook readers. These are all really good things. Champagne for everyone at B&N! Except...apparently the NOOK Simple Touch "lagged expectations", and while B&N claims it's because of higher NOOK Tablet demand, that's still a worrisome comment. Especially if you consider that B&N's competition (Amazon and Kobo) are crowing about great sales, without any "except our newest product" caveat. That's the Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

ePillow Tablet Pillow review

Dan Cohen — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:00:14 +0000

Every now and then we are invited to review something that just looks… well… ridiculous but we end up agreeing to take a look anyway. When the "ridiculous review item" first arrives and we open the box our first impressions are, for the most part, confirmed. Yes, more often than not the product is silly, looks like a bad joke and poses a bit of a challenge with regard to actually writing the review. Every now and then however, once we actually start using the item we discover that our first AND second impressions were actually wrong! Sure, the item still looks silly but it actually works well. That was my experience with the ePillow. I'm not fully sure why I agreed to review it since the pictures didn't impress me but I'm actually glad I did. I've used it to watch some movies on my iPad this weekend and I actually found it quite useful. Seriously! Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Free eBooks from the Local Library!

Carly Z — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:30:06 +0000

I swung by my local library today and discovered they put together a very clever way of promoting library eBooks. They had free "gift cards" out for "free eBooks", which was just a printed card with the library's website on the front and QR code for the site on the back. The marketing campaign signs around the library suggested people could give them alongside Kindles, NOOKs, etc. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

NOOK Tablet Apps: The Anti-Deal?

Carly Z — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:00:29 +0000

Good news! You can now play Words With Friends on your NOOK Tablet. Bad news...it'll cost you $2.99! Apparently there's no free rides in the NOOK ecosystem, as many apps that are free with ads on bigger platforms cost a small amount on the NOOK. This is a trend we've seen in other "big" apps like Angry Birds, and I think it's more likely to harm than help B&N in building a sustainable platform. Before I get into my logic, I want to make one thing clear-I have no problem with paying for apps, or with developers needing a way to make money. My issue is that B&N has an Android base to their tablet Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Angry Birds Released for Original 1989 Nintendo GameBoy!

Michael Anderson — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:00:44 +0000

Well ... ok, maybe not! But thanks to the mad image juxtaposition skills of Dan Cohen, it looks that way. And really, just HOW surprised would you have been if it WAS true? Let's be serious - Angry Birds has 'jumped the shark' ... in reality it did so in 2010. It is a cute 15-minute time waster with enough content to be highly replayable. But when you think about it ... it really isn't much beyond a well executed touch-based singular game mechanic. Try this - play it on the PSP or on a PC. Guess what? It is crap. Without an iOS or Android device the game is not Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Can’t Burn This – Fahrenheit 451 Released as a 50th Anniversary eBook!

Michael Anderson — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:15:31 +0000

I have always loved Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and introduced my kids to the book as well as the 1966 movie (free to stream on Netflix or Amazon with accounts). Now for the 50th anniversary of the classic novel, Bradbury has finally relented and allowed for an eBook release. From the LA Times:

Simon & Schuster released an e-book edition of Ray Bradbury's science fiction classic "Fahrenheit 451" on Tuesday. First published in 1953, "Fahrenheit 451" is a dystopia in which reading is banned and it is the job of firefighters to burn books. 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns. The irony of releasing an

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Were More NOOKcolors Rooted Than We Thought?

Carly Z — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:00:12 +0000

(image courtesy Put Me In Coach)

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 easy sailing it was for the Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

TruConnect Brings Cheap & Easy 3G to Your Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet!

Michael Anderson — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:20:24 +0000

Last month I reviewed the TruConnect 'pay as you go' mobile broadband solution, saying:

TruConnect absolutely delivers on their claims of a simple device, easy setup and configuration, and clear pricing of as little as $4.99 per month. Beyond that, every person needs to make their own value judgement in terms of the data fees. For light or occasional use, you can get 250MB for less than $15 a month, but once you break 1GB of monthly data you might be better off with a full access plan. The good news is that you have no contract and no termination fees – you own the MiFi (or USB access point), so you cancel

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Holiday Gift Guide: For Your Favorite Reader

Dan Cohen — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:00:49 +0000

From the Editorial Staff of Gear Diary: Is there someone in your life who loves to read? If so, here are five gifts with which you can't go wrong. Kindle/NOOK: Either one, but this is a must for anyone who loves reading. And the entry-level prices make them an affordable tablet companion even if you already have an iPad. Kindle prices start at $79. nook touch is $119.99 in our Amazon Affiliate Store. eReaders are a bit delicate so you need a sleeve for protections. Carly's favorite is the Timbuktu sleeve. It is lined in soft fabric Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Kindle Fire Shows Android Cross-Market Problem; Nook Tablet Limits Revealed

Michael Anderson — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:30:49 +0000

I wrote about the Android app TouchDown by NitroDesk as an 'App I Can't Live Without', so naturally when I got my Kindle Fire, one of the first things I did was load up TouchDown from the Amazon Appstore for Android to configure my work email account. The problem came when I went to switch from a 'trial' to licensed mode. On any other Android device I would simply download the TouchDown License from my 'purchased apps' on the Android Market. But, since there is no access to the Android Market, I couldn't do that on the Fire. Further, when I asked the developers, they said that different terms and Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

NOOKTablet Is Announced

Carly Z — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:00:18 +0000

Well, the rumors turned out to be true, and the NOOK Tablet (aka NOOKcolor 2) is official. B&N is releasing a minor upgrade to the NOOKcolor, with an HD screen and an emphasis on multimedia. The real question is this: B&N is #2 in the ebook world, and will consumers pay more money to buy the #2 guy's tablet? Here's what worries me about the NOOK Tablet: It does have some measurable benefits over the Fire (better storage options, polished and recognizable design, strong hacker community behind it), but it's straying from the NOOKcolor's ebook roots. It's more tablet than reader, where the original was more reader than tablet. Why does this matter? Because on the one Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Dear B&N,Your Strategy Needs Some Work …

Carly Z — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:30:40 +0000

Dear B&N, I want you to succeed. Really, I do. I know it's hard to believe, being the former Borders' girl that I am. And sure, my personal library is pretty heavily Amazon-focused. But I like competition. And I like bookstores. And you bring both. But come on, you need to step up your game, and it seems like you're falling behind at exactly the wrong time. Let's look at your main competition, Amazon. They have the Kindle Fire tablet coming out, and the "special sauce" is their ecosystem. Point for point they offer more value to a new customer. Let's see:

Apps:Amazons AppStore is well stocked, and works on multiple

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

B&N To Hold A Press Conference Monday: New NOOK Ahoy!

Carly Z — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 01:30:55 +0000

It's been just about a year since Barnes and Noble announced their popular NOOKcolor tablet, and it's looking like the successor is on deck! eBooknewser is reporting they received an invitation to a B&N press conference, and since the logo was a big n for NOOK...it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put the pieces together! The big question is what this NOOK is going to be like. I think it's safe to say we'll see some beefed up specs over the original NOOKcolor. Most likely the new NOOK will be more media-friendly, with better support for watching movies (maybe even Netflix or Hulu+ support). I also expect to see improved app offerings, and possibly Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Results of the “What’s Your Primary eBookstore” Poll

Carly Z — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:30:38 +0000

The votes are in, and I know you're all thrilled to learn the results of our "What's your primary ebookstore" poll. As it turns out, Gear Diary readers break down fairly similarly to what's widely assumed about ebook demographics. Amazon's Kindle was overwhelmingly first, with B&N pulling a solid second place, but far behind Kindle's numbers. Meanwhile, iBooks and Kobo duked it out for the remaining share, with one vote for "Other". So what does this mean? As I said, this was highly unscientific, and you could argue there's a lot of factors skewing the results: our readers may be mainly US-based, which means they're more likely to shop B&N and iBooks over Kobo, we Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

What’s Your Primary eBookstore?

Carly Z — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:15:09 +0000

(image courtesy Cultural Weekly)

Kobo is like the Rodney Dangerfield of ebookstores -- they get no respect! Here they are, pumping out app after app for every smartphone platform, pushing the social envelope with "Reading Life", created a touch-based ebook reader...yet they're still an also-ran. As Nate over at The Digital Reader notes, Kobo never gets mentioned alongside B&N and Amazon, and his sources indicate Kobo has, at most, 5% of the ebook market. Still, for a tiny presence Kobo has a big voice. They promote themselves heavily, so they often get coverage on blogs, but in my conversations with everyday people I've only had one person tell me they shop Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

B&N Pulls 100 DC Comics Titles In Protest of Kindle Fire

Carly Z — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:00:28 +0000

(image courtesy Unoffical Networks)

I want to root for B&N. They're fighting for survival, and facing off against a seriously tough market. But their behavior this week makes me think the wheels are coming off a bit at B&N HQ, and that fear and stress, not strategy, are running the show right now. They've pulled 100 DC Comics titles from their physical stores (the titles are still available online), all over anger regarding DC's exclusive deal with Amazon to bring the same 100 titles to the Kindle (Fire and tablet apps). Teleread picked up this report from Bleeding Cool about Amazon's exclusivity:

Well now the other shoe has dropped

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

B&N Drops Support for Blackberries

Carly Z — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:15:43 +0000

Bad news for Blackberry and B&N fans; you'll have to pick sides soon. B&N is notifying Blackberry users that effective January 1st, they're dropping all support for their eReader app. Of course, if you want to go through contortions, you can always sideload your books via USB. Or you could switch to Kobo or Amazon, both of whom offer fully supported ebook apps for Blackberry. According to Crackberry, this is the email B&N has sent to affected users:

We are writing to inform you about important changes being made to the BN eReader software for BlackBerry. Changes to the BN eReader software will directly affect how you purchase and access your digital

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Target Adds The NOOK to Its Arsenal of eReaders

Carly Z — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:00:29 +0000

B&N has added Target to the places you can pick up a NOOK, if online and a B&N store aren't your style. Target has actually turned into quite the ebook powerhouse, selling everything from Kindles to Kobos to NOOKs. It's an impressive lineup, and you can check out Target's full line of ebook offerings here.

This also highlights an interesting dichotomy for B&N. On the one hand, they need to get the NOOK into as many hands as possible, and that means selling through every retailer who wants to carry it. On the other, one of the NOOK's biggest selling points is B&N's brick and mortar presence, and all

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

PSA: You Have Until October 15th To Opt Out Of The Borders/B&N Mailing List

Carly Z — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 18:45:51 +0000

Borders is officially gone, but if you were a registered Borders Rewards or Borders.com user,your data is still out there. B&N owns it now, in an attempt to both secure your business and block competitors from luring your dollars to them instead. For most people this is not a big deal, since you likely are ok with a bookstore having information about you. However, if you always regretted being bullied into that Borders Rewards card (sorry about that!) or you gave your email address and never used the coupons, this is your chance to make sure that data gets nuked for good. B&N's CEO William Lynch sent out an email this morning with all the details, so if Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

State of the eBook: It’s a Post-Kindle Fire World!

Carly Z — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:30:34 +0000

In case you missed it, Amazon debuted not one (or even two) but FOUR new Kindle models this week. Even more shocking, only one of them was rumored! Apparently Amazon has hired Apple's rumor crackdown team; either that or everyone was so excited for an Amazon tablet we didn't see the signs of new Kindles right under our noses. So here's the new Kindle family: -Kindle: $79 [eInk] -Kindle Touch Wifi: $99 [eInk] -Kindle Touch Wifi+3G: $149 [eInk] -Kindle Fire (Android tablet: $199 [color] Note that the three eInk Kindle prices are the "special offers" versions. Non-subsidized Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Review: Speck FitFolio for NOOKcolor

Carly Z — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:00:28 +0000

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 fit cradle holds your NOOKcolor in place
Two-way bungee cord keeps case closed or

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Brace Your Wallet For the Fall eBook Readers!

Carly Z — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:00:31 +0000

This fall is going to be tough on ebook fans. Or at least our wallets. Amazon, Kobo, and possibly B&N all have big new releases in store! What's in the pipeline? Read on to find out!

Amazon sent out press invitations to a big event next week. The timing is definitely right for a Kindle refresh, since Amazon seems to traditionally release new models in the fall. The last few Kindle updates and price cuts have been quiet releases very suddenly, so if Bezos and company are holding a big, flashy event, it's for something bigger than a mildly refreshed Kindle 4. My guess? Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Cheap or Standard: When Is an Android Device Not an Android Device?

Gary Bunker — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:00:05 +0000

When the Grid 10 was announced by the ever-reliable Chandra Rathakrishnan last month, it was said to run Android apps but not be an Android device. This was later clarified to mean that it is actually an Android kernel running the show, but thoroughly skinned and possibly even forked to a version of Android incompatible with future Google-backed updates. We'll see someday, maybe. Now TechCrunch is reporting that Amazon's long-rumored tablet will be hitting the market in a couple months, running a completely forked Android kernel. This one is apparently pre-2.2 (how far pre is undefined) and has been so modified that it in no way resembles Android at all Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

B&N Proves NOOK Is Keeping It Alive, Adds Peanuts Characters to Celebrate!

Carly Z — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:15:04 +0000

(image courtesy Peanuts Wiki)

Headline aside, the timing of B&N's financials and the announcement of exclusive Peanuts content for the NOOKcolor is a coincidence. But it does nicely highlight the positives and negatives B&N is facing as we head into a world without Borders. The real positive in B&N's report is, of course, the NOOK. Sales were up 140%, and the latest projections puts NOOK marketshare at around 30%, which is amazing considering that B&N doesn't have the deep pockets or entrenched online presence that Amazon does! They're also projecting significant sales from Borders old customers, which doesn't surprise me. Borders didn't do enough business to stay viable, but they did have plenty Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Nook Touch Cover Review: Oberon Design Large and Small Sleeves

Michael Anderson — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:00:23 +0000

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 sleeves feature imagery on both the front and back of Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Nook Touch Cover Review: Oberon Design ‘Tree of Life’

Michael Anderson — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:00:16 +0000

I had written about my nifty new Nook Touch a couple of months ago, and it has really become my constant companion for ebook reading. My family got me a basic cover from Barnes & Noble that clips in the device and closes with a magnetic strip. It gets the job done, but not nearly as stylishly as the cover my wife and son have on their Nooks. So when I had the chance to check out the new covers specifically for the Nook Touch by Oberon Design, I jumped at the chance! Let's see how the new cover in the 'Tree of Life' design works with the latest Nook Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

And … the Nook App Update Removes Store Links from iOS

Michael Anderson — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:00:25 +0000

Carly said it best - A picture is worth 1,000 words...

Carly just posted about Amazon removing store links from their Kindle app. Now Barnes & Noble has done the same. Here is the description of their update:

What's New in Version 2.1.2 You can read any NOOK Book you have purchased on this updated NOOK for iPhone app, however the Shop link has been removed so to buy NOOK Books from your iPhone, open your Safari browser and go to nookbooks.com.

This is just the latest in an evolving saga that has basis in a single Apple policy they have become increasingly stringent about enforcing: if you sell on Continue reading on Gear Diary ...