Barnes & Noble to unveil new e-reader on May 24

[jocampo]

Took a quick look on B&N official website.

The shape is kind of weird. Not ugly, but weird. I guess is because the absent of physical keyboard.

Good thing that they got rid of the old eink screen and now are using pearl; it was kind of obvious though to incorporate that if they were going to sell an eink device.

Two months of battery life! That's Impressive!

The Nook vs Kindle table comparison is kind of funny, because we all know they are not going to show weak points there. And the B&N number of titles, no idea where did they get those numbers from but none of those are true, including for Amazon. Amazon does not provide the exact numbers of titles they have and same for B&N.

But... my enthusiasm went down when I read this: reading mode, portrait only. For people who read poetry or computer books, won't be a suitable device.

I can't wait for Amazon's "jab" or "uppercut" and see how they responds. At the end, we all, the users, we'll see the benefit I guess.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Two months of battery life! That's Impressive!

At 30mins a day I think it's a bit of a marketing stunt. I'd be interested in pageturns.

[markdek]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Uh oh

• no web browser
• no MP3 support = no audiobooks

Are you sure about this? Anyone?



************************************************** ******************
EDIT: From Goodreader:

"Update:
Now there is some news that may not sit well with some people. There is no dedicated internet browser so you cannot surf the net, whether they will allow you to do this in the future is unknown. It also does not have support for audio, such as Audio Books or Mp3 music files. On the flip side since the Nook 2 is running Google Android 2.1 as the operating system. It will only be a matter of time before hackers ‘root’ the device and add web browsing and dare I say “Angry Birds” in e-ink?
It should be up for pre-order later today and will hit the market on June 7th – 9th 2011 for $139. What about the original Nook WIFI and Nook 3G? The WIFI is going to drop to $119 and the 3G $169."

.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

At 30mins a day I think it's a bit of a marketing stunt. I'd be interested in pageturns.

Agree.

Main point here is that Amazon will come with something new or different (hopefully) And maybe Sony.

As a former Nook 1st gen owner (actually, Nook was my 1st eink reader) I must say they truly improved the device this time. That LCD screen was not a good idea in my opinion and the new device's weight is a great improvement as well.

[beautifulsoup]

Forgive me if this is really a stupid question - but will it still be "backlighted?"

ETA: Whoops - I think this was already answered, I hang my head in shame and sneak away now.

[markdek]

Originally Posted by beautifulsoup

Forgive me if this is really a stupid question - but will it still be "backlighted?"

ETA: Whoops - I think this was already answered, I hang my head in shame and sneak away now.

What's the answer? Is is backlight? ....doubt it, right.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by markdek

What's the answer? Is is backlight? ....doubt it, right.

It says it uses pearl, which is eink. So this is not an LCD device. No backlight ... I guess ...

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by markdek

What's the answer? Is is backlight? ....doubt it, right.

eInk can't be backlit.

[detayls]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Uh oh

• no web browser
• no MP3 support = no audiobooks

It's a reader. Just use it to read.

[Fbone]

Six different fonts. That's nice. If I read them correctly they are ... Caecilia, Malabar, Ysobel, Gill Sans, Helvetica Neue, and Trebuchet.

[markdek]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

eInk can't be backlit.

But, e-ink readers can be "side" lit....

[ApK]

Originally Posted by detayls

It's a reader. Just use it to read.

So you just use your iPhone to make phone calls, I guess?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by markdek

But, e-ink readers can be "side" lit....

With claims of 2 months battery life, there is no reason to speculate on any sort of a built in light. Not a chance. You'll just have to buy your own 'front light.'

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by detayls

It's a reader. Just use it to read.

One of the reasons why I love my Kindle: awesome ereader. Of course, every person is entitled to use the device for other stuff, but for music, I prefer a dedicated mp3 player.

So on this case, I don't see a major issue if there is no mp3 player support. What could be a downside, is not having the ability to read or use audio books. That's a must for blind people or if you just want to rest your eyes a bit.

Games, Magazines, etc, I think a tablet is better than any eink reader. There are a lot of options now on the market for tablets, including the own Nook Color.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by ApK

So you just use your iPhone to make phone calls, I guess?

my guess is they were looking to trim the fat and probably did some research on how widely used some of the extra features were. I'm sure each extra feature has their dedicated niche for example my wife loves audio books for her ride into work. She ripped almost her entire library into MP3 and downloaded them to her nook classic and runs a male to male 3.5 mm jack to the stereo.

Me on the flip side have never once used the mp3 player. My guess is I'm the majority and she's the minority so if you are looking for ways to cut down on the overall cost of things, that wouldn't make the cut.

just pure speculation.