Barnes & Noble Nook | experience it all.

Today Barnes & Noble unveiled a new addition to their e-reader family. The all-new Nook “the simple touch reader” is noticeably small and ultra-light. It packs a 6-inch E Ink Pearl touch display and weighs only 7.48 ounces. Its package is 35 percent lighter and 15 percent thinner than the original Nook (WiFi), and its no-glare display offers 50 percent more contrast. It features a soft-touch rubber back that B&N says makes the reading experience all the better. The battery life is phenomenal; with WiFi turned off the new Nook will last for up to 2 months on a single charge. Equally impressive is that the new Nook offers 80 percent less flashing than other e-readers; page turning on an e-ink screen is normally a headache-inducing activity, so we should all be happy that B&N is doing all they can to combat the “flashing” issue. The company also outlined the new Fast Page feature which allows readers to jump to various sections of a book at ease. Readers will also be privy to the number of pages left to go in a book. The new Nook runs Android 2.1, boasts 2GB of storage that can be expanded with use of the microSD slot, and is WiFi-capable. A 3G model is not being offered at this time. The tiny Nook goes on sale June 10 for an acceptable $139 at B&N, Best Buy, Walmart, Staples, and Books-A-Million. It is up for preorder today. Full PR after the break. Head over to the source link to see the new Nook in action.

[Via Engadget] Continue reading Barnes & Noble announces new Nook, “the simple touch reader” →

Step aside Amazon Kindle 1, 2, DX and make way for the most innovative and stylish e-reader yet. Barnes & Noble invites us to indulge in what they are calling the Nook, a 11.2 ounce (7.7- x 4.9- x 0.5-inches) e-reader device that will surely change the game in the e-reader realm. Priced at a competitive $259, the Nook features two displays, a top 6 inch e-ink display from Vizplex and a 3.5 inch LCD touchscreen below it. It includes 2GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot for expandable storage (you can load up pictures, music, and personal PDF documents), Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microUSB port for charging. B&N claims the Nook will run for up ten days before it needs a recharge (which takes 3.5 hours). And oh yeah, it runs Google’s Android OS.

The Nook allows you to browse the B&N e-book store and choose from over one million titles. Browsing can be done cable-free via Wi-Fi (for free at Barnes & Noble stores, and onlyat B&N stores at launch) and over AT&T’s 3G data service. All books can be previewed for free and most bestsellers and new releases cost $9.99. You can also keep updated with the latest news by receiving newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Nook’s LendMe technology allows you to share your purchased books with others by wirelessly “lending” a copy of your book to their e-reader, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, select Blackberry and Motorola phones, and soon Windows Mobile phones. All you need is the eReader Software (free) installed on your particular device. A lent copy of a book expires after 14 days.

B&N is taking preorders for the Nook today and the expected ship date is November 30. Look after the break for a video demo; see the Nook in action.

Barnes & Noble deserves a round of applause. After waiting in the shadows as companies like Amazon and Sony pumped out e-reader devices year after year, B&N has gone and surprised us all and rocked the e-reader industry with its latest creation in the Nook. Its dual-screen format looks like a winner; easy touchscreen navigation on the bottom and clear, glare-free reading on the top. It’s simple yet efficient design makes B&N’s Nook a new and worthy competitor in my book (pun intended).

[Via Engadget; Gizmodo]

Continue reading Barnes & Noble announces Nook, the coolest e-reader yet →