This is the new NOOK Tablet

[pastanley]

Thanks for the help guys. Best Buy has started their black friday deals on the Fire HD. I picked up the HD 10 today for $99.99

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I won't be surprised if the Nook and Fire use the same screen.

One advantage of Nook would probably be that it uses straight Android. Though I've found it's not that hard to find an .apk when I need to install something that's not in Amazon's app store.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rcentros

One advantage of Nook would probably be that it uses straight Android. Though I've found it's not that hard to find an .apk when I need to install something that's not in Amazon's app store.

You can also install the Play store to Fire tablets. But I do not care for Fire OS and so far as I know, you can no longer change the launcher.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

You can also install the Play store to Fire tablets. But I do not care for Fire OS and so far as I know, you can no longer change the launcher.

It is not so clear that that installing Play store will always be possible:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=3772362

I would not buy a Fire tablet and assume that you could install Play, or that it will continue to work indefinitely. Nor would I assume that .apks for whatever apps you want to use will work on Fire. And Amazon AppStore is pretty lame, there are a lot of popular apps that are not there and never will be.

On the other hand, if I were in the market for an Android tablet, it probably would not be something from B&N, given the trajectory of their NOOK division.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tomsem

On the other hand, if I were in the market for an Android tablet, it probably would not be something from B&N, given the trajectory of their NOOK division.

If I was in the market for a 10" Android tablet, I wouldn't have any problem with the Nook. It's just a generic tablet, it really doesn't matter what brand name is on it.

[Apache]

Are they still being manufactured by Samsung?
Apache

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Apache

Are they still being manufactured by Samsung?

I don't think their cheap 7" and this new 10.1" are made by Samsung. They still advertise three Samsung tablets as well.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Apache

Are they still being manufactured by Samsung?
Apache

Nope.
Jingwah Information Technology.

https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/...-fcc/#comments

The Samsungs are part of a separate deal where B&N committed to selling a million Samsung tablets over 12 months. The deal was extended when B&N failed to meet the required sales volume. (By a lot!) The deal was renegotiated in 2016.

https://the-digital-reader.com/2016/...msung-tablets/

They're probably still trying to fulfill the deal.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by rcentros

If I was in the market for a 10" Android tablet, I wouldn't have any problem with the Nook. It's just a generic tablet, it really doesn't matter what brand name is on it.

The Nook HD and HD+ had non-standard charging ports. Have they stopped that idiocy?

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by tomsem

It is not so clear that that installing Play store will always be possible:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=3772362

I would not buy a Fire tablet and assume that you could install Play, or that it will continue to work indefinitely.

Yes, I agree. I only mention the Play Store because I've learned on these forums if I make a negative comment about the Fire and DON'T mention sideloading the Play Store, I will immediately receive a comment 'correcting' my opinion.

Truth is, I just wouldn't buy a Fire tablet, period.

On the other hand, if I were in the market for an Android tablet, it probably would not be something from B&N, given the trajectory of their NOOK division.

An Android tablet sold by B&N will continue to function if B&N went out of business tomorrow. I don't understand worrying about B&Ns longevity when discussing buying one of their devices. It's not like Android or the Google Play Store will stop functioning.

A Nook e-ink, maybe. A tablet not running a proprietary O/S? No worries.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

An Android tablet sold by B&N will continue to function if B&N went out of business tomorrow. I don't understand worrying about B&Ns longevity when discussing buying one of their devices. It's not like Android or the Google Play Store will stop functioning.

It will continue to function exactly as it did when new, yes.
That is not always a good thing.

Android is a moving target, with regular OS updates every year or so and, unlike Windows, where Microsoft carries the burden, it is up to the hardware vendor to distribute the updates/upgrades. And in some cases create the patches if they relate to hardware-specific code.

B&N does that for their branded tablets, like the update they distributed when it came out that their seven inchers shipped with malware. Absent B&N it would've been up to the user to find a solution or not.

Curated platforms like Macs, Windows, Playstations, and yes, Fires, take flack for the varying degrees of restrictions and mandatory updates they carry, but for a lot of people those "annoyances" are welcome handholding. A value add feature, not a bug. And there are more of them than us.

To some people the long term viability of the vendor matters.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

The Nook HD and HD+ had non-standard charging ports. Have they stopped that idiocy?

I think that's gone. Don't know for sure, though.

[fjtorres]

They finally revealed the optional accessories:

- a docking cradle
- a folio cover with keyboard

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...top/ar-BBPPX7L

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/noo...dpid=tekz25v83

...there's a $40 Smart Folio Cover with Keyboard that, for the first time, turns the Nook into a pseudo-laptop. Much like with a Surface or iPad Pro, there's a physical connector that provides power and data without cables or a finicky Bluetooth connection. You probably won't be using a Nook as a productivity machine, but this might help if you want to write a review of a book mere moments after you've finished reading it.

Actually, there are a couple of decent office suites at the Play store. Softmaker, for one, and at least one OpenOffice derivative. And, of course, there's Office 365 and Google docs.

Quite workable, really.
Wouldn't be a primary justification for buying it--not with low end Win10 laptops in the same general $170 price range--but for occasional, supplemental use, it might justify the incremental cost.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

...
Actually, there are a couple of decent office suites at the Play store. Softmaker, for one, and at least one OpenOffice derivative. And, of course, there's Office 365 and Google docs.

Quite workable, really.
Wouldn't be a primary justification for buying it--not with low end Win10 laptops in the same general $170 price range--but for occasional, supplemental use, it might justify the incremental cost.

I like the idea. I've got a nice Bluetooth keyboard that I can use with my Kindle 7 tablet (using JotterPad and QuickNote to make what I write available anywhere), but I have to carry the keyboard separately — so it's kind of a pain. (Not that I would use it much anyhow for this anyhow.) But you need a case anyhow, and it's kind of nice that you don't have to monkey with Bluetooth or carry the keyboard separately.

As for using a full-fledged Office Suite, I do everything in text anyhow (unless I want to "fancify" it — then I just move it to LibreOffice on a laptop or desktop).

I'm kind of surprised something like this is coming from B&N, considering their viability issues.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I'm kind of surprised something like this is coming from B&N, considering their viability issues.

The way these things work, a company puts out an RFP (request for proposals) to the ODM "community" and they pick the proposal they like best, which might offer up things they never thought of.

The ODM probably talked them into it: they probably make more money off the cover or the cradle than the tablet.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orig...n_manufacturer