Skip to main content

Barnes & Noble Nook Event Live Blog

This is the live blog for B&N’s press event on 7 November. Scroll down for older events.

Update on the screen tech: As far as I know IPS is a different screen tech from the FFS screen used on the NC. I plan ti follow up on this with my contacts with screen tech companies.

10:52:Hemming and hawing about app support. They’re thinking about opening up to the Marketplace, but not just yet End of Q&A.

10:51: Promising more video codec support on NC and Ntablet.

10:45: (answering a comment) The NC doesn’t have official bluetooth support (hardware yes, software no), and I don’t know yet of the Ntablet has a bluetooth module for it to not use.

10:43 Nook Tablet running Gingerbread underneath B&N’s interface.

10:41: No new Bluetooth support, no new NT browser support, no apps for the touch.

10:36: Q&A starting.

10:32 And that’s it for the formal event.

10:30: now showing  line up of 3 items, but ti’s lacking the original Nook shown in the leaked doc. They’re still selling it as new, BTW.

10:29: pitching the no ads feature and sleep screen customization.

10:27: No mention of apps for the Nook Touch (question from a reader). But ti does have 150 hours batt life, (hour a day for 2 months).

10:24: And  now the Nook Touch is priced at $99! Wait, the Nook Touch has a new display (he was quite clear). edit: It looks like he meant software, not hardware.

10:22: OMG They’re pricing the NC at $199!  Snide comments aside, it’s also getting a firmware  update.

10:21: Jamie Iannone now on stage.

10:20: Jane Lynch pitching the NT in a commercial.

10:19: Still trashing the Kindle Fire (4 minutes).  I’m trying really hard not to snicker.

10:17: Now talking trash on the Kindle Fire. Oy. You can tell how badly the KF scared B&N by the amount of time spent trashing it.

10:14: Now talking old services with a new name: NooK Cloud, but I’m betting the term Nook Cloud is a direct response to Amazon and the Kindle.

10:13: New Nook app for PDF & Epub on NT.

10:11: Now talking about read& record: the NT has a mike and parents can record a narrative for any of B&N children’s ebooks.

10:09: Netflix integration on the NT home screen. Now pitching pandora, netflix, Marvel, and NookStore (2.5m titles) integration.

10:08: promising 9 hours video, 11.5 hours reading time.,

10:07: The new NT has an IPS screen, not FFS as on the NC. Interesting,

10:05: Now watching a promo video. Specs match the leak last week.

10:04: Just showed off the Nook Tablet. Yawn.

10:03: Now talking about NookColor, apps, Flash support, children’s books, etc.

10:01: William Lynch is on stage. They had a great year over the last 12 months. Reporting 27% market share in US (matches what I’ve heard elsewhere).

9:59: If you have a question, please leave a comment. I’ll try to follow up.

9:55am It’s seven minutes before the hour, and I’m sitting here trying to think over the background noise. There’s no news yet, but I did play one joke on Twitter. If you saw my tweet about Jeff Bezos, that was a joke. Given that all the news today leaked last week, I was really tempted to post a fictional live blog, and have B&N sell out to Amazon. No more jokes today, I promise.


If you found this interesting, you can subscribe to the RSS feed or the daily email newsletter. You can also follow me on Twitter: @thDigitalReader or find me on FaceBook.

Similar Articles


Comments


Pierre Fontaine November 7, 2011 um 10:04 am

Thanks for the live blog! I just got my Nook Simple Touch last week and routed it to have access to additional apps.

Will The Nook Simple Touch get any kind of app support. The device might actually make a nice pocket sketchpad as well well as a pocket notebook for quick notes and documents.

Thanks!


Pierre Fontaine November 7, 2011 um 10:08 am

Neither Engadget or Gizmodo have any kind of live blog going. I guess all the leaks took the steam out of the announcements this morning.


Pierre Fontaine November 7, 2011 um 10:09 am

I take it back…Engadget now has a feed.


Robert Nagle November 7, 2011 um 10:16 am

Any improvements on the Nook Touch browser? Better support for NC/NT bluetooth keyboards?

Nate Hoffelder November 7, 2011 um 10:31 am

No mention.


Pam Belknap November 7, 2011 um 10:44 am

Does the new Nook Tablet have Bluetooth? Can you use a keyboard with it? (Bluetooth or otherwise?)


Pam Belknap November 7, 2011 um 10:45 am

Is the Flash better? I find with my current Nook Color that there can be a delay when I’m playing back something with Flash (people’s mouths moving after the sound, etc.)


fjtorres November 7, 2011 um 10:48 am

"Never let them see you sweat."
Fire on the brain is not a good sign; Amazon’s pre-order numbers obviously scared the pants off them.
Another bad sign: original Nooks still around new? At what price?
I was already concerned about keeping the NC around at $199 and the endless supply of refurbs. Now, I dunno. Inventory issues, anybody?

Logan Kennelly November 7, 2011 um 3:08 pm

Amazon did an amazing job of getting attention for the Kindle Fire. If you are the second place guy and coming out with a better product, then you’d probably want to latch onto some of that media hype, too.

As I have mentioned before, the original Nook (WiFi-only) is going for $89 new. It isn’t really mentioned on the web site, but quite prominent in store. With only a $10 difference to the Nook Touch, though, I can’t imagine them selling well.

Nate, can you confirm that B&N claimed this morning that Nook is second in sales only to the iPad? If true, that is certainly impressive…


Mike Cane November 7, 2011 um 10:53 am

Is there an OTA update for Nook Touch or are all the "updates" actually HARDWARE? Man, Touch owners will be pissed by that. Better hardware, lower price.

Mike Cane November 7, 2011 um 11:04 am

According to Verge, there is indeed and OTA update, here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Software-Updates-NOOK-Simple-Touch/379003175

Pierre Fontaine November 7, 2011 um 11:06 am

Thanks for the information! That’s very good to know.


Pam Belknap November 7, 2011 um 10:57 am

If there were bluetooth support so that I could use a keyboard with it, I would buy a new NT, but I might as well keep my original one…


Robert Nagle November 7, 2011 um 10:58 am

Thanks for asking the bluetooth question. It’s amazing how often I use bluetooth + ipad for simple word processing. If Fire or Nook could get bluetooth keyboard support + a word processing app, that would be a BFD for me….


Geert Meijer November 7, 2011 um 10:58 am

The NC also has an IPS screen.

Quote from the NC specs:
"•Stunning 7 inch VividView™ Color Touchscreen shows more than 16 million colors on the best-in-class IPS** display".

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookcolor/features/techspecs/index.asp


Pierre Fontaine November 7, 2011 um 11:08 am

BTW, thanks for taking the time to report on this event for your readers, and for taking our questions also. I’m learning to really like the Nook Simple Touch alot and hope it only gets better with any forthcoming firmware updates.

You’ve got a great website and it’s one of my daily destinations!


RK November 7, 2011 um 12:28 pm

thanks so much for your live blog.


I’d Take the Nook Tablet Over the Kindle Fire – The Digital Reader November 7, 2011 um 1:27 pm

[…] RSS ← Barnes & Noble Nook Event Live Blog […]


Leslie D. November 7, 2011 um 6:22 pm

Thanks Nate for the live blog!


john November 7, 2011 um 7:42 pm

so to buy the nook touch refurb for $79 would result in receiving the old screen for now, not the new, right……although it should have the new rendering software loaded up.

Logan Kennelly November 7, 2011 um 8:00 pm

There is no new Touch hardware, merely a software update that completely swaps out the font rendering with one built for e-Ink (according to Jim Lester at MobileRead). You could tell with the version 1 software that it wasn’t quite "right" for the display (especially when compared to a Kindle under a microscope). I guess those issues have now been addressed.

The faster page turns and (mostly) support for multi-level table-of-contents were also thrown in to make us smile a bit.

john November 7, 2011 um 8:02 pm

or is b&n just claiming that the new software makes it a new E-ink screen (i.e. new hardware via new software)? that’d be misleading. Ars Tech describes it as "the most recent eInk screen." if it was stated as 'the most recent eInk screen technology' then i could see it being only a software update. otherwise, sure sounds like a new display (hardware). The Verge is only acknowledging the software update. I smell an opportunity for digging……

john November 7, 2011 um 8:30 pm

the b&n website uses the exact same language re the e-Ink screen for the new and the pre-owned nook touch, so most likely just a software update as Logan replied above. i have a feeling the b&n reps (this morning in NYC and whoever’s writing their publicity material) have just made a poor choice of words, slyly or otherwise.

Logan Kennelly November 7, 2011 um 9:02 pm

It is just a poor choice of words by the marketing guys. They actually have a name for the new rendering/display engine, BestText, that is "ultra-crisp, reads just like paper". It isn’t hard to see how, from a non-technical standpoint, you might confuse the terminology so that it sounds like a new hardware display.

Nate Hoffelder November 7, 2011 um 9:55 pm

Let me point out in my defense that he did say the word display. I’m ticked about the error but it’s not mine.

Logan Kennelly November 7, 2011 um 10:38 pm

So sorry, by "you" I meant the marketing guys at Barnes & Noble. From the way everyone reported it, there was no confusion: the Nook Touch is getting a new screen … it just wasn’t true.


Ads Now Available on All Kindle Models | The Digital Reader May 9, 2017 um 5:31 pm

[…] ereaders as not having annoying ads. That was even one of the Nook Touch's selling points at the Nook Tablet launch event a couple weeks […]


Write a Comment