B&N have released version 1.3 for the nook. This includes the follow features:



Basic Web Browser
Free (yes really) Read in Store
Chess game
Soduku game
Improved loading and page turning speeds

You can find more information and manually d/l the update from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/new-features or just wait for the OTA update.

BOb

B&N have released version 1.3 for the nook. This includes the follow features:



Basic Web Browser
Free (yes really) Read in Store
Chess game
Soduku game
Improved loading and page turning speeds

You can find more information and manually d/l the update from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/new-features or just wait for the OTA update.

BOb
Sony and Amazon, you can up the ante, surely!
Amazon could port Infocom text adventure games at the very least.

I m posting from the nok tight now. It is not bad as a one finger system. I'm holding it in one hand and typing with my forefnger. It is reasonably fast.

I m posting from the nok tight now.

Just a guess, but I would say the Nook's virtual keypad must not be very good judging from the typos. :)

I played with a Nook at BN a couple months ago and was totally underwhelmed. I hope for owners of Nooks that v1.3 solves a lot of the problems with this reader. It was definitely released before it was polished.

The web browser works a lot better than I thought it would. Is the most enjoyable way of browsing the web, no, but it has displayed every page I have tried quite well. I do wish in the settings there was an orientation change for browser unless I am just not seeing it. I tried out kotaku which has a lot of data and such and it displayed it all but you got to scroll around a lot. This led me to discover that you can zoom pages out and obviously will have smaller text. Just open up the browser guide bar in the top left of the touch screen and click the zoom in button icon and it will bring up the option to zoom in or zoom out so you can fit the whole width of the page on your nook screen. Unfortunately it does make the font quite small but still readable for at least me.

My other complaint of the web browser is the rectangle box they show on the e-ink screen to indicate what is being shown on the touch screen has too thick of a border so I have to keep moving it because it is blocking out lines of text.

Overall, I am really enjoying the web browser.

Also you can now connect to free WiFi networks that use a browser page to login.

Have any of you tried the browser with Project Gutenberg, Oreilly Bookwarm, or Google Books? Those are the three places that I go to to read books online, and I'm wondering how well they work.

Have any of you tried the browser with Project Gutenberg, Oreilly Bookwarm, or Google Books? Those are the three places that I go to to read books online, and I'm wondering how well they work.

Downloads are not supported.

I'm not referring to downloads, I'm referring to the online reading functions. How well are those online books being displayed on the nook?

For example:
Great Expectations (http://www.google.com/books?id=_qsXAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=great+expectations&ei=UtrRS9E5kPgw78nM6Ac&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false) (Google Books)
Moby Dick (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm) (Project Gutenberg)

Sony and Amazon, you can up the ante, surely!


I got my Sony because of initial bad reviews for the nook, looks like they at least are attempting to add functionality and improve performance. I've not seen anything on my Sony, of course it only a few months old.

My main concern is that they seem to have added games, while the biggest gap the device had in my mind was unaddressed. When iBooks has better ways to view my book collection (both bought and side loaded), I'm saddened.

Okay, I'm done venting now. :P

I'm not referring to downloads, I'm referring to the online reading functions. How well are those online books being displayed on the nook?

For example:
Great Expectations (http://www.google.com/books?id=_qsXAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=great+expectations&ei=UtrRS9E5kPgw78nM6Ac&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false) (Google Books)
Moby Dick (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm) (Project Gutenberg)

The Gutenberg one didn't work well. It expects a screen that's wider than the Nook, and the content doesn't reflow. I wouldn't use it unless I absolutely had to.

Two questions:

How's the browser compared to the Alex and the Kindle?

Does it work over 3G? Engadget said something about getting a "page not found" when they tried it.

Web browsing is only allowed over WiFi, perhaps another reason they beefed up the WiFi UI and free hotspot login via web page stuff.

The browser is certainly more sophisticated than the Kindle's in terms of rendering full HTML desktop sites with fidelity. We're still waiting for our Alex review unit, so I can't speak to that (we should have it any day now, can't wait!).

Web browsing is only allowed over WiFi, perhaps another reason they beefed up the WiFi UI and free hotspot login via web page stuff.

The browser is certainly more sophisticated than the Kindle's in terms of rendering full HTML desktop sites with fidelity. We're still waiting for our Alex review unit, so I can't speak to that (we should have it any day now, can't wait!).

Thanks!

It's weird, because 90% of my library is in Amazon, but I'm oddly tempted by the nook after this release. I think it's just the desire for something new and shiny.

Thanks!

It's weird, because 90% of my library is in Amazon, but I'm oddly tempted by the nook after this release. I think it's just the desire for something new and shiny.

What do you really gain over the Kindle with a nook. A few basic games? Sure, it supports ePub and that opens up your store selection. But, who cares if any ebook you can get is in the Kindle store.

BOb

I personally must have ePub support since I take out lots of digital library books. I also want ePub support so I am able to shop at a selection of ebookstores. I shop around for p-books (best price, most enjoyable shopping environment), so why shouldn't I be able to do the same for eBooks?

What do you really gain over the Kindle with a nook. A few basic games? Sure, it supports ePub and that opens up your store selection. But, who cares if any ebook you can get is in the Kindle store.

BOb

Well, it's definitely no longer a guarantee that any ebook you can get is available in the Kindle store - why, look at all those books published by Penguin after 4/1 that are missing. :2thumbsup

My main concern is that they seem to have added games, while the biggest gap the device had in my mind was unaddressed. When iBooks has better ways to view my book collection (both bought and side loaded), I'm saddened.

I agree, I would much rather prefer folder support and improved dictionary. The games and browser are nice to have, but they should get the basics sorted first.

I've been holding softrooting my nook in the hope that this 1.3 would bring at least folder support, but it is clear now that softroot is the way to go.

What do you really gain over the Kindle with a nook. A few basic games? Sure, it supports ePub and that opens up your store selection. But, who cares if any ebook you can get is in the Kindle store.

BOb

I know...which is why I won't act on it. The rule is I need to wait 30 days between "OMG SHINY WANT" and actually buying...it avoids those momentary impulse purchases that just end up biting me in the butt!

WOOHOO!! This is awesome! Too bad I can't get them to send me a unit for review. :( I'd love a chance to review the Nook. T_T

Someone on the B&N nook boards made an interesting point about the update:



Ah I just realized something.



This updated fixed a few items to improve performace but the majority of the items were geared to sell the nook to new users.



So I think this is the iPad update and not a nook update.



B&N please, on the next update work on fixing the current features before adding more. That music player needs a major overhaul, searching for all books, etc...

The browser- I am afraid to use because of loading times. I mean I am not expecting much out of it, since it is on a different display.

What do you really gain over the Kindle with a nook. A few basic games? Sure, it supports ePub and that opens up your store selection. But, who cares if any ebook you can get is in the Kindle store.

BOb

Library books....pretty big difference in my opinion.

Library books....pretty big difference in my opinion.

That is probably the 1 valid reason. This is assuming you don't want to or can't just liberate.

Of course, "big reason"... perhaps if you live in a location that has a local system with a good selection. So this doesn't apply to everyone.

BOb

That is probably the 1 valid reason. This is assuming you don't want to or can't just liberate.

Of course, "big reason"... perhaps if you live in a location that has a local system with a good selection. So this doesn't apply to everyone.

BOb

I do have a local system with a decent selection....and I am letting them know I want more. I think they need to hear it more places. As far behind on my reading as I am, I have plenty of titles I have yet to read there.

Wally

Yay! I has eInk Ipad!!! zOMG Chess is teh best!!!!!!!11one
WTG BN.

Seriously. So far, it seems slower. The touch screen interface is now cluttered. We need a way to turn off all the other nonsense.My first page turn reflashed the screen into a weird black bordered box for two pages. Then it finally came back to normal.

I dusted off my K2 and page turns are substantially faster on the K2. B&N is getting there, but they're still a full second off. I'll have to see if WiFi plays a part in the speed on the nook. At least they fixed the DST bug. I don't have to live in the canadian atlantic time zone anymore for the summer. I can now safely live home in EST.

I still can't connect to my WEP test router. WEP!

It sits on "obtaining address" for a good 15 minutes before I give up.

**EDIT** 16 minutes later, it connected.

B*N makes me laugh. The LCD and the eInk screen show the same web page.

I don't mean to be persnickety but wouldn't a thread about a Nook firmware update be more appropriate in the ...... er, Nook forum?

The browser is only available in Wi-Fi? One reason I'm considering buying a new reader is so I can do a minimal e-mail check, etc. while on the train or whatever. Having to look for wi-fi hotspots is not what I was hoping for. Thanks for the information, gang.

Rob Preece
Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com