The Verge - Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet and Nook Color: pricing, specs, photos, and more

Nook Tablet can sideload Android apps, no root required

2011-11-17T06:20:41Z

Nab your Nook Tablet a day or two early, or planning to pick one up tomorrow perhaps? Here's a neat trick: if you download an Android APK via the built-in web browser, you can actually install it to the slate without any special hacks. Though you can't initially access the permissions page from the settings menu, the xda-developers community discovered that when you try to open an APK, you can have the Nook redirect there, and then you can check the box labeled "Unknown sources" to enable sideloading. Then, it's just a matter of finding additional APKs that play nice, whether they be custom launchers or even rival platforms like the Amazon Appstore — The Digital Reader confirms that even the Kindle app works as long as you find the...

Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire vs Nook Color vs iPad 2 comparison

2011-11-07T15:49:00Z

One of the best features of our little website is the ability to quickly mix and match products to your heart's content. Here's a sample showing the newly announced Nook Tablet, the already available Nook Color, and Amazon's upcoming Kindle Fire, compared against one another and set against the very popular iPad 2 for good measure.

Both the Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire are Android tablets with 7-inch IPS LCDs pushing 1,024 x 600 pixel resolutions and 1GHz dual-core processors. The Nook Tablet is just a tad chunkier (yet weighs less) but the big difference is the price: The Nook Tablet is $50 more than the Kindle Fire.

Where Nook Tablet comes out ahead is with longer battery life, according to B&N. And although both show a 7-inch IPS...

Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet: pictures, video, and hands-on impressions

2011-11-07T15:45:25Z

This morning Barnes & Noble officially announced its Nook Tablet — its 7-inch, $249 tablet that goes head-to-head with the Kindle Fire. Naturally, we fought the crowds at the launch event to get some hands-on time with the Nook Color successor. So can the Tablet take on Amazon's entry? Read on for impressions and don't forget to check out the hands-on video and pictures.

Design-wise, the Tablet continues to be one of the best feeling devices out there. We say continues because it really is the same as the Nook Color when it comes to look and feel. The rubber-ish grey back is comfortable in hand and the little hook on the bottom gives it some pizazz, at least in comparison the Kindle Fire's all-black, Playbook-like design. Even more...

Nook Simple Touch updated with new rendering software, $99 price

2011-11-07T15:26:31Z

At today's Nook Tablet event, Barnes & Noble updated its ereader line with the $99 Nook Simple Touch. It's got a brand new Best-Text rendering platform that Barnes & Noble claims offers the fastest page turn of any ereader. In our review of the 2011 Nook, we found the text rendering of the E Ink display inferior to the Kindle's, so hopefully Best-Text lives up to its promise. Barnes & Noble ranks the battery life at up to 2 months on a single charge. The ereader is ad-free, and to drive the point home in another dig at Amazon, B&N CEO William Lynch said, "Do you really want to have to spend an extra $40 or give your friend an ad-based product?" Existing Simple Touch users will be able to upgrade for free, and will be able to d...

Nook Color price drops to $199.99

2011-11-07T15:22:51Z

Just as predicted (nay, foreseen) by Best Buy, the Nook Color price has been officially cut by $50, and the Android-powered e-reader will now be available for $199.99. That means that the last generation hardware is at parity with the forthcoming Kindle Fire (in the pricing department at least), though the company's $249.99 Nook Tablet (which was just announced) seems to be that device's real competition.

Developing. Check out all the details in the Nook event live blog.

Nook Tablet announced: $249, available November 17th

2011-11-07T15:03:49Z

As expected, Barnes & Noble has taken the wraps off of its latest Nook today — the so-called Nook Tablet, designed to replace the Nook Color with refreshed specs across the board including an "HD viewing experience." On the hardware side, the Tablet gets a 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM in a package that weighs under a pound. The display — sourced from LG — is an IPS unit (like the iPhone and iPad, among others) that offers a near 180-degree viewing angle, and it can play back up to nine hours of 1080p video on a single charge.

Speaking of video, the Tablet has Netflix and Hulu Plus pre-loaded, and the company is promising the deepest level of Netflix integration available on a device thanks to a customized app. Video...

Reminder: Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet event live blog today at 10AM EST / 7AM PST

2011-11-06T22:00:20Z

It's been a long week of Barnes & Noble leaks, including details on the rumored Nook Tablet and a Nook Color price drop, but the time has come for all to be confirmed. On Monday morning, we'll be heading to the Nook event and bringing you the first ever Verge live blog. It all goes down at 10:00AM EST / 7:00AM PST at the link below. In the meantime, you can follow the Nook Tablet and Nook Color saga right here in one of our handy StoryStreams.

Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet live blog

Nook Color drops to $199.99, courtesy of Best Buy

2011-11-05T15:49:37Z

As expected, Barnes & Noble's Android-based Nook Color has fallen $50 to $199.99 ahead of the presumed announcement of a successor next week. The news comes out of Best Buy this morning, which has just released a statement saying that the e-reader has "permanently" been reduced to $199.99 both online and in stores, though Barnes & Nobile itself is still showing a price of $249. In other words, if you're planning on picking one of these up today, Best Buy looks to be your best option for the moment.