Barnes & Noble bolstering Nook Video catalogue, bringing UltraViolet to the HD and HD+

Posted on 30/10/2012 by Jamie Rigg

Barnes & Noble is seriously beefing up its Nook ecosystem by striking deals with studios and other providers to bring a ton of new video content to its HD and HD+ tablets. Debuting alongside the slates, expected to start shipping in the US this week, thousands of SD and HD movies and TV shows from the likes of NBCUniversal, 20th Century Fox and others will be available for your consumption. Brits will get the same opportunity a little later, coinciding with the local release of the tablets closer to the holiday season. B&N won't force you to buy its hardware to enjoy the expanded catalogue, as it'll be releasing free Nook Video apps in the future to access the content from all platforms. What's more, you'll also be able to view UltraViolet video on the HD and HD+, meaning you can watch all that previously purchased content right from the get-go. This is certainly a huge bonus for consumers that have a big UV library, and coupled with all the new content, we wouldn't be surprised if Nook sales start stealing a little heat from the Fire.

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Filed under: Tablets, Software, HD

Barnes & Noble bolstering Nook Video catalogue, bringing UltraViolet to the HD and HD+ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nook HD review: a high-def tablet with the heart of a reader

Posted on 30/10/2012 by Brian Heater

Barnes & Noble knows where it stands in the tablet race. Sure, the company has been plugging away at the space since the day the Nook Color made its transformation into a full-fledged tablet, but the Nook, it seems, is rarely mentioned in the same breath as the Kindle Fire or Nexus 7, when discussing low-cost tablets. As such, the company seems to rarely mention its devices without discussing the competition -- Amazon in particular. In fact, at the launch event for the Nook HD and HD+, reps trotted out Kindle Fire HDs at every possible opportunity.

Seeing the two devices side by side, there's no question that Nook trumps the Fire in a number of categories, and the bookseller has gone a ways toward making the Nook HD stand out in a field full of bigger players. For one thing, the device is far more focused on the reading experience than the competition, a fact reflected in both hardware and UI decisions. The company has also taken a more aggressive approach toward marketing the device toward families. The question, then, is whether these features are enough to capture marketshare from the more prominent devices. See how the Nook HD stacks up after the break.

Gallery: Nook HD review

Continue reading Nook HD review: a high-def tablet with the heart of a reader

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Nook HD review: a high-def tablet with the heart of a reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD gets splayed all over the internet by the FCC

Posted on 17/10/2012 by Daniel Cooper

Barnes & Noble is eager to ensure its Nook HD tablets are passed safe for consumption by humans. That's why one of the slates has just been ushered out of the FCC's underground bunker after being torn into tiny pieces. Of course, our boys in blue generously shared the pictures for us all to enjoy, and we'd be remiss if we didn't include them here -- after all, it's what's inside that counts.

Gallery: Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet HD at the FCC

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Barnes & Noble's Nook HD gets splayed all over the internet by the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Texas Instruments wants to ditch smartphones, switch focus to embedded processors

Posted on 26/09/2012 by Daniel Cooper

Texas Instruments has made the startling announcement that it's going to wind down its wildly successful smartphone and tablet business in favor of embedded systems. VP Greg Delagi told investors that the switch would create a more "stable" and "long-term business" than the cutthroat battles it's faced in mobile. While, currently the world's third biggest semiconductor company, it's concerned about losing ground to players like Qualcomm, Samsung and Apple -- despite its latest OMAP CPUs powering tablets like the Nook HD and Kindle Fire. We're scratching our heads as to why a major player would drop such a strong position like this, but perhaps they know something that we don't.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Transportation, Mobile

Texas Instruments wants to ditch smartphones, switch focus to embedded processors originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 10:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble Nook HD, HD+ vs. Nook Tablet: what’s changed?

Posted on 26/09/2012 by Daniel Cooper

When William Barnes and G. Clifford Noble set up their first bookstore in 1917, neither of them could have conceived of an e-reader or tablet, let alone trying to sell one of 'em. Their historical lack of foresight aside, the company outed a pair of second generation slates this morning, and it's our job to see what technical nips and tucks have been made from version one. If you love to start the day with a spec chart comparison, then why not grab a bowl of cereal and join us after the break?

Continue reading Barnes & Noble Nook HD, HD+ vs. Nook Tablet: what's changed?

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Barnes & Noble Nook HD, HD+ vs. Nook Tablet: what's changed? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble hits the UK, launches Nook Simple Touch, Glowlight and a pair of HD tablets

Posted on 26/09/2012 by Daniel Cooper

American bookseller Barnes and Noble is planning to broaden its horizons with a little international travel. At the same time the Kindle Fire HD makes its first tentative steps across the pond, the company behind the Nook has appointed Patrick Rouvillois to spearhead its global domination -- starting in the UK. As such, it's releasing the Nook Simple Touch, Simple Touch with Glowlight and both of its new HD tablets this holiday season to win the hearts and minds of cynical Brits. If you're a Brit (cynical or otherwise) and curious whether Jeff Bezos and chums have something to worry about (hint: most probably) then join us after the break.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble hits the UK, launches Nook Simple Touch, Glowlight and a pair of HD tablets

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Barnes & Noble hits the UK, launches Nook Simple Touch, Glowlight and a pair of HD tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 02:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD 7-inch Android tablet, hands-on (video)

Posted on 26/09/2012 by Brian Heater

It was roughly this time last year that Amazon's Kindle Fire showed us just how successful an aggressively priced 7-inch tablet could be, becoming, arguably the go-to gift of the last holiday season. This summer, Google upped the ante, showing the world that a $200 tablet could be more than just an OEM-ed content delivery device, enlisting ASUS to design a really solid piece of hardware at a seemingly impossible price.

Barnes & Noble's journey in the space, meanwhile, has been decidedly more convoluted. In mid-October of 2010, the company gave the world the Nook Color -- a product with a wildly original industrial design, but decidedly limited functionality, which was, for most intents and purposes, an LCD-based color e-reader. Halfway through the following year, the device got a Pinocchio-like upgrade, transforming it into an honest-to-goodness tablet, apps and all. The device's celebration was cut short, however, eclipsed entirely by the arrival of the aesthetically (nearly) identical, but internally superior Nook Tablet.

When Amazon announced the release of the Kindle Fire HD and all of its many variants, there was little question that Barnes & Noble had something waiting in the wings as well. After all, much of the bookseller's hardware game plan seems to revolve around going toe-to-toe against Amazon offerings, and since the company beat its chief competition to the market with a glowing reader, a Nook Tablet seemed all but inevitable. With this week's announcements, however, the company has managed to offer up some surprises -- for starters, there's the fact that it's doubled its efforts with the release of two tablets -- with the 7-inch Nook HD and the 9-inch Nook HD+. Then there's the fact that the company has clearly put great effort into the hardware this go-round, rather than offering up yet another rehash of the Color / Tablet lineage. Let's start with the Nook HD, shall we? Join us after the break.

Gallery: Barnes & Noble's Nook HD 7-inch Android tablet, hands-on

Continue reading Barnes & Noble's Nook HD 7-inch Android tablet, hands-on (video)

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Barnes & Noble's Nook HD 7-inch Android tablet, hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 01:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble announces Nook HD+ 9-inch tablet, we go hands-on (video)

Posted on 26/09/2012 by Brian Heater

Sure we heard some early rumblings about a new tablet from Barnes & Noble, and no, we can't say we were particularly surprised by the revelation -- after all, no one expected the bookstore to sit idly by and let Amazon own the holiday shopping season with its freshly souped-up Kindle Fire line. But the company did manage to offer up a few surprises with today's announcement -- biggest of all (literally, in fact) was the launch of a 9-incher, the Nook HD+. And where the HD borrowed some style cues from B&N's Simple Touch line, its bigger brother is the aesthetic descendent of Nook tablets past, borrowing that long, skinny body and even offering up a winking reference to the carabiner that lent such a dramatic distinction to past products.

That said, we're not simply repeating the move from Nook Color to Nook Tablet here. The Nook HD+ is a far more significant upgrade, even as it pays a little tribute to its predecessors. Barnes & Noble's really gunning to make a splash in the budget tablet space this holiday season, and while the company's clearly betting on the smaller and cheaper HD to be the big seller, a company rep told us that he expects that HD+ to be a sleeper hit for the company. And certainly it's easy to see why the company's got some confidence this time around -- the device is sleek, fast, hi-res and affordable. But can it succeed in such a cutthroat market? Check out some impressions after the break and judge for yourself.

Gallery: Barnes & Noble announces Nook HD+, we go hands-on