nook

Turn your Nook Color or Nook Tablet into an Android 4.1 tablet

Do you own a Barnes & Noble Nook Color or Nook Tablet? If so, perhaps you've wished for a way to stretch beyond Barnes & Noble's custom OS to enjoy a more traditional tablet experience -- and run whatever apps you want to run, not just those curated by B&N.

N2A Cards has long offered such a way: a bootable microSD card that transforms the Nook into a real Android tablet, complete with the Google Play store and everything.

Originally, that option limited you to Android 2.3, aka Gingerbread, but N2A Cards now offers a … Read more

iPad Mini vs. Kindle Fire HD 8.9 vs. Nook HD+

Life in the tablet category used to be simple. There were 7-inchers and 10-inchers and comparisons only occurred within each tablet's size category. This year however, Apple, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble have successfully muddied the once-clear waters by respectfully releasing 7.9-inch, 8.9-inch, and 9-inch tablets.

So how do they compare? Let's find out.

Screen The iPad Mini's 7.9-inch, 1,024x768-pixel screen has wide viewing angles and good color reproduction, but when it comes to resolution, it can't hold a candle to either the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 nor the Barnes & Noble Nook HD+. … Read more

B&N to sell Nook Simple Touch for $59 on Black Friday

Last year, Barnes & Noble ran a Black Friday sale on its Nook Simple Touch e-reader, chopping $20 off its list price of $99. This year it slices $40 off with a $59 in-store special -- while supplies last, of course.

Both Target and Sears are offering doorbuster deals on the Nook Simple Touch for $49 and $39.99, respectively, but I suspect Barnes & Noble will have more units on hand, which means you'll probably have a better shot of picking one up at a discounted price.

When it was released in 2011, we gave the Nook Simple … Read more

Barnes & Noble CEO not much into physical books anymore

Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch has a big hand in shaping the sales of books, both physical and digital. He also has a confession to make.

"I don't really read physical books that much anymore," Lynch told Bloomberg's Nicole Lapin. Lynch was dishing on what he's reading on his Nook right now, including Food & Wine and Field & Stream magazines. Fortunately for physical books, Lynch's wife is still a big fan of paper.

The migration away from physical media isn't new, but it still feels a bit strange to hear the CEO of a massive physical bookstore chain fess up about his preference for e-books. He also admitted to not being able to finish "Fifty Shades of Grey," for what that's worth.… Read more

Barnes & Noble releases Nook app for Windows 8, Windows RT

Microsoft's digital book pact with Barnes & Noble is already bearing fruit.

A little more than a month after the two companies officially formed a partnership geared toward digital reading, Nook apps for Windows 8 and Windows RT have arrived at the Windows Store. B&N CEO William promised last month that a Windows 8 app was "imminent," but it was not available at the time of the new operating system's launch last month.

As part of the two companies' pact, Microsoft agreed to invest $300 million for a 17.6 percent stake in a … Read more

DC's e-comics expand to a multiverse of devices

Digital comics sales are on the rise, according to DC Comics, and the publisher today has started to expand its weekly books beyond its app.

Starting today, the Kindle Store, Apple iBookstore (iTunes link), and Nook Book Store will offer the same weekly issues previously limited to the Comixology and DC Comics apps. New issues of DC's superhero New 52 line, as well as its Vertigo imprint, will publish on the same day and date in the proprietary e-bookstores, the Comixology app, and in physical comic bookshops.

"It's not a move [away from Comixology], it's an … Read more

Facebook pushes you to vote

Monday's CNET Update has the power:

The CNET New York office has reopened, and it's great to be back to give you today's tech news roundup:

- Apple sold 3 million iPads in the three days since new models went on sale. That number includes the sales of two models: the iPad Mini fourth-generation iPad. But the bulk of the sales are estimated to be for the smaller tablet.

- Tuesday is election day in the U.S., so prepare to be bombarded with voting reminders and peer pressure on social media. Facebook is making a big push … Read more

B&N drops prices on Nook Tablet and Nook Color

Now that Barnes & Noble's new $199 Nook HD tablet is starting to ship to customers, the company has lowered the prices on last year's Nook Tablet models to $179 (16GB) and $159 (8GB), and reduced the price of its entry-level Nook Color to $139.

It's unclear how long Barnes & Noble will keep these models on the market, but it appears they will be sold through the holiday buying season.

In the past you could get refurbished versions of these same models for similar prices. When it was originally launched in late 2011, the 16GB Nook Tablet … Read more

Barnes & Noble inks video deals in time for Nook HD, HD+ release

Barnes & Noble is expanding its Nook Video content to include NBCUniversal and 20th Century Fox programs as it also begins shipping its HD and HD+ tablets this week.

B&N said customers who preordered the tablets will start receiving them throughout the week. The devices will also hit Barnes & Noble's stores and retailers such as Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy.

Chief Executive William Lynch said that B&N had a record number of preorders.

The media partnerships will appear at the same time as the new Nooks and will bring thousands of TV shows and … Read more