It ’s a succour to finally lay hands on the Nook . The dual - blind lector was just a propat its unveilingso I ’m happy to report it works ( pretty ) well . It ca n’t shoot down Kindle yet , but it ’s an substitute worth considering .
https://gizmodo.com/gizmodos-barnes-noble-nook-full-coverage-in-one-place-5386403
A Two-Horse Race
Do this now : Disregard all other ebook readers on the market besides Nook and Kindle . Unless you plan to get all of your books from back - alley cloudburst , or stick to self - publish and out - of - right of first publication PDFs , you are go to need a reviewer with a dear content - delivery scheme , one it connect to straight via all-encompassing - area meshwork . And as long as you ’re set on Es - ink as your preferred means of digital interpretation — and it ’s still the choice that ’s easiest on the eyes and the shelling — you’re going to need a reader that is n’t shit up with gimmicks that supposedly counterbalance for the slow presentation .
But more on the Nook . The affair that makes it special is its two screen : one e - ink for read books , one soupcon LCD for navigating and buying books on . More on that afterward , but basically , the frame-up works well than the unmarried silver screen apparatus on the contest . Sonymessed up by putting a blaze - inducing film over its screento bring home the bacon dubiously beneficial touch control ; iRex avoided that , butmade a “ touch ” port that requires a style . Kindle plays it directly , developing a exploiter user interface that works well enough with physical buttons and due east - ink ( as long as you do n’t habituate the “ experimental ” browser app ) . Nook preserves the same enjoyable reading experience , but tuck in the capacitive - touching LCD screen for added control . In its 1.0 implementation , Nook is not as firm or as smooth as it should be , but already it ’s show that the second screen is not a gimmick .
https://gizmodo.com/sony-reader-prs-600-touch-and-pocket-prs-300-dual-revie-5359122
Still , I need to get this out of the way : The second screen is not a sudden and marvellous cure for what ails ebook readers . It may prove to be , but B&N ’s current implementation is conservative . As yet , there are too few occasion on the Nook when I notice an LCD feature and say “ Kindle ca n’t do that . ” In fact , the Kindle development team has n’t been sitting on their asses — the latest firmware make Kindle more sprightly than ever , with subtle but amazing user - interface improvements . But Barnes & Noble is itself anticipate round - the - clock enhancing , optimizing and debug over the next few month , and I would n’t be surprised if there were three or four updates drive through the Nook by March — the first possibly before Christmas .
Is it just Enough Now
Does that mean it ’s not quick now ? permit me put it this way : If you are lucky enough to have pre - arranged one in the first wave for the Dec. 7 shipping , or patient enough to wait until mid - January for the next wafture , you are go to get a gadget worth being stir about .
And when Barnes & Noble gets its in - store offers and book - lending operation afoot , Amazon will have to pace up , or posture down .
Big Screen, Little Screen
The first thing I noticed about the LCD was that it was too bright . einsteinium - ink is all about eyeball comfort , and I had n’t really thought about how the LCD underneath would compromise that . Because you do n’t need your eyes to have to adjust every time you look down and back up again , it grow out you want that thing a lot dimmer than you might if it was a standalone machine . The automatonlike brightness claims adjustor is n’t really up to the line , but I found that by dialing it all the means down when study in bed , and happen it up a shade , like to 20 % , when reading in sunlight , my eyes could look up and down without any annoyance .
The 2nd thing I notice about the LCD was how skillful its keyboard was . Unlike the Kindle , the Nook ’s keyboard is only seeable when you need it , and as an iPhone user , I witness it natural and exact . The capacitive spot is a real boon , especially on a sieve so small .
Besides the keyboard and sundry inclination of configurations and files , the slight screen can display a directional pad for move around text when highlighting or look up words in the dictionary ; it can give you a search box and a billet to typecast notations ; it can pop up the music player without leaving the page ; it flow book covers in your depository library and in the store . And when the screen goes dark , you could make horizontal swipe gestures to wrench the varlet of the vitamin E - ink screen above .
Between the LCD and the e - ink concealment is a little upside - down uracil , actually an “ N ” from the Nook ’s logo . This is covered with a capacitive - feeling layer too , and serves as the “ rest home ” push , which arouse up the LCD with a pat , and takes you to the home screen with a double - pat . ( There are physical buttons , too : Two page - twist buttons on each side , and a mightiness release on the top , which work as billed and have no hidden features . )
I find the capacitive port to be ready to hand , but it also reveal the bugginess of the former software . Scrolling could be sticky , tap the home button or the screen occasionally did nothing , and using the guiding pad to pilot text made me yearn for the Kindle ’s physical miniskirt - joystick . The boastful disappointment was the page - turning swipe motion . It failed to work half the time I tried it , and when it did piece of work , I noticed that it answer slower than pressing the physical page - number push .
I raise all of these issue with Barnes & Noble , and fortunately they are on top of this . specify bugs and speeding up the UI are the primary goals for the first software revision , and I have no doubt that they will achieve their goals in due meter , probably before most people can even purchase their corner .
While You Read
The Nook wo n’t vex the Kindle if all that LCD is for is facilitating seafaring — the interface is n’t a bad one , but in its current implementation , it ’s just an alternative , not an rise . The manner B&N will outfox Amazon is by making that blasted screen do crazy material . It should start by targeting people who read while doing 12 other things .
Me , I ask assiduousness to get through a page , and even music is a beguilement . But for some people , it ’s not hard to read a book while jamming to tunes , periodically glance at news tickers , and reply to email or schoolbook messages . This is the promise of Nook ’s 2nd filmdom .
It already does this to some extent . The euphony actor is n’t much yet — and has a few wrick B&N is still ferment out , like automatically and unpleasantly alphabetise all your songs — but it ’s a real applet , unlike the Kindle ’s . On the Kindle , you typecast Alt - Space to get a song to play , and you click F to advance to the next song . That ’s about it . With the Nook , you’re able to adulterate up Sung dynasty and then scroll through them all , picking one you desire to hear , or shuffling the raceway . There ’s no forcible volume button , but you may pull up a skidder to adjust it , and another Pseudemys scripta to stick out around a song . And you’re able to do all of this without leave the page of your book .
But when you look up a Holy Scripture in the dictionary , the definition pour down up on the e - ink screen , not the LCD . When you get an warning notice , again , the pop - up is on the e - ink . Barnes & Noble designated the Es - ink as the place where all “ reading ” would be done , and that include content and sidebar content . I differ with this , if only because the 2nd screen seems sartor - made for alert and other pop - up info .
The second silver screen is also a piazza for third - party developers to make fun and unexpected applets . Barnes & Noble bang to remind commentator and customers alike that this baby is power by Android : In other word , Nook may not see like a Motorola Droid , but developers could write apps for it just as easily .
Right now , the integrated Wi - Fi does n’t feel like much of a bonus . ( Though it offers sure benefits when abroad , it only work with Wi - Fi networks that do n’t require a pop - up web page . Free or not , those are few and far between . ) But Wi - Fi think that developers could compose cyberspace apps without fearing a crackdown by AT&T , which bring home the bacon the no - fee radio connectivity . Paging Pandora !
Built on Bricks and Mortar
When it occur to betray for rule book ( and reading them ) , the Nook is the Kindle ’s adequate , and may soon leverage Barnes & Noble ’s 800 physical locations to knock it out of first place . I was not able to test these features , because they are only starting to turn over out this week , but when you take a Nook to a B&N , it will mechanically start on the store ’s Wi - Fi meshing , and pop the question you free delicacy — not just downloads but cookie from the café and other delicacy . Soon , there will be a direction to scan an entire ebook while you ’re in the store , too . You might say , “ Big business deal , if I ’m in the store , I ’ll just bet at the real book . ” But that ’s just the point : How nice will it be to compare genuine and ebook editions before you purchase ? I asked B&N about bundles of real book and digital download , and they said discussions with publishers are afoot .
Needless to say , one of the biggest advantages the Nook has over the Kindle is the chance for hoi polloi to touch it before buy it . B&N will start demonstrate off Nooks this week , and will add a few more ebook reader to its lineup , too . mass who were afraid of taking the plunge will see the benefit and buy .
( My preferred theory as to why Sony and others have sold any ebook reviewer at all in the US is that they look in retail location , unlike Kindle . Because if anything but the Nook was showcased side - by - side with the Kindle in a showroom , the decision to go with Amazon would be well-off . )
Barnes & Noble has adopted a more innate posture toward the books they sell , too , allowing you to get at what you corrupt via ebook reader on Macs and personal computer , iPhones and BlackBerrys ( and in a few months , Android phone ) as well as the Nook . Amazon has an iPhone app but as yet there ’s no mode to read your Kindle Word purchases on your own electronic computer , and is now ( finally ) rolling outPCand Mac Kindle clients , as well as a BlackBerry app .
https://gizmodo.com/kindle-for-pc-beta-now-available-to-download-5401131
Speaking of Kindle downloads , some noise has been made about Kindle book of account being cheaper than B&N ebooks , but Barnes & Noble says that they are in the process of correcting their prices , essentially even out them all out so that they ’re no in high spirits than Amazon ’s . In my own experience , I found David Foster Wallace ’s Infinite Jest for $ 10 and George RR Martin ’s A Game of Thrones for just $ 7 . I was pretty pleased , though I was a shade annoyed that sales revenue enhancement was n’t included in the floor price . Be warned there .
loaning is another non - Kindle function rolling out this week that I ’ll be following up on . You select a leger from your accumulation , bring it to someone list in your Nook physical contact , and they receive a message via email and on their Nook ’s “ Daily ” screen , where periodical , offers and other posting show up . When they take , they can read the al-Qur’an for two calendar week . During that time , you ca n’t read it , and when it revert back to you , they get a notice to corrupt . You ca n’t impart the same Word to the same person twice .
you may also add Quran to someone who does n’t have a Nook , to read on their computer or iPhone or BlackBerry , though the apprisal only comes from email . ( Expect a radically redesigned iPhone client in January with loaning and other features . ) The new reviewer from iRex and Plastic Logic will let in the Barnes & Noble store , and all your purchase will be accessible on those gadget . However , at this point in time , those two equipment wo n’t have the loaning capability .
Work in Progress
If I have n’t said much about read Book on the Nook itself , it ’s because it feels very much like a Kindle , right on down to the page - turn buttons . The screenland is the same — there ’s no discernible difference whatsoever .
esthetically , the Nook is better looking , less busy , with a more harmonious bezel ( and a wee bit more girth ) . I like the gray gum elastic funding as much as I loved in on the original Kindle — I still do n’t know why Amazon give up that .
The only computer hardware bummer was the sound of the integrated speakers — Kindle beats Nook here ( soundly ? ) , but since both have a 3.5 millimetre jak for headphones , it ’s mostly a moot point .
The hardware is to the full baked , but as I have mentioned the software system is n’t . by from the stickiness of the port and the defect in the medicine player , I found a definite germ in the high spot - and - notes scheme . I have already list a what find like a hundred tiny gripes , but I still have more , like why is n’t there AAC playback ? And why do I have to get to the family screen to see the clock ? ( Kindle now shows the clip with a individual rap of the Menu release , no matter where you are . ) I do know why there ’s no Audible DRM support — because even the equipment that supposedly support hearable file do n’t support the single most people purchase from iTunes , so it ’s a puzzling mess for customer . But I ’d still expect the nation ’s big bookshop chain to get serious about audiobooks .
The great thing is that the fixes will descend fast and steady , and like the iPhone , this matter will grow . For those of you who take the dip already , I do n’t involve to secernate you to be careful with 1.0 software , because as early adopter you are fix . And for those of you who miss out on the first heap , guess what ? That just means you’re able to wait for the fundamental bugglies to get fixed before you pony up $ 259 . And for those who go for the Kindle this season instead ? felicitation , you have a very nice ebook reader too — for exactly the same cost .
In fact , if you have to pick one mightily now , stick with the Kindle . It ’s a tough call , because I see a circle of potential in Nook that might not be in Kindle , but damn if the Kindle has n’t arise to comfortably inhabit its Es - ink skin . As long as you do n’t anticipate apps and extras on a Kindle , it deliver the ripe ebook experience there is at this moment . And it just last outside . But while the restriction of a Kindle are well-defined , the limitations of the Nook are hazier , presumptively further out .
For now , no one will laugh at you for possess either , though you will now for sure be laugh at for expend $ 400 on a Sony with glare issues , or — excuse me , iRex — anything that requires a style . And since many third - party readers are going with the Barnes & Noble store , you ’d be speechless to buy any of them instead of the Nook . That may change in the future ( can you consider I made it this far without mentioning Apple Tablet ? ) but for now , in the ebook department , there ’s just these two bountiful dogs surrounded by a cluster of poodle .
In Brief
capital all - around ebook reader
2d screen serves utile design
Expansion and evolution possibilities of this very gimmick are great , especially with touchscreen and Android osmium
Lending and in - shop Barnes & baronial activity will be Brobdingnagian
A little thicker than Kindle , but as a tradeoff , it ’s a little smaller step
Wi - Fi does n’t seem to weigh now — hopefully it will prove to be an reward later
LCD and other features mean less electric battery life than Kindle , but still adequate , “ measure in day ”
Many of the Kindle killer functions , like lending and in - store perquisite , were n’t screen , as they are roll out this week
Current software program is buggy and sluggish in spots ; hopefully fixes and optimization will arrive soon
2nd - concealment theory are not bad , but current implementation is cautious and bourgeois
Update 1 : unbox Pics , that I require to let in because the packaging is just so swish :
Update 3 : Re : discourse of who has the better catalogue , B&N ’s is being overhauled this week , so expect to see a mess of new pricing and perhaps some fresh usable titles . We ’ll do some spot checking later on , but in the meantime , do n’t be surprised if you see a lot of sudden change to the card .
Update 4 : Some of you have asked me about the ePub formatting , which the Nook does natively support . Third - party non - DRM ePubs can be download from the net , and side - load into the documents folder inside the Nook . When you look at your Documents screen , you ’ll see them listed with the appropriate metadata . When on screen , they are as adjustable as B&N - purchased ebooks , and generally look just as nice .
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