New Nook firmware v1.3 now avaiable

pilotbob · 04-23-2010, 10:53 AM

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

AprilHare · 04-23-2010, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

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.

Nate the great · 04-23-2010, 11:13 AM

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.

jswinden · 04-23-2010, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

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.

javajoe96 · 04-23-2010, 01:00 PM

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.

tgeek · 04-23-2010, 02:17 PM

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.

Nate the great · 04-23-2010, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgeek

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.

tgeek · 04-23-2010, 02:38 PM

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 (Google Books)
Moby Dick (Project Gutenberg)

dsvick · 04-23-2010, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AprilHare

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.

Kolenka · 04-23-2010, 04:20 PM

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

Nate the great · 04-23-2010, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgeek

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 (Google Books)
Moby Dick (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.

questionfear · 04-23-2010, 04:30 PM

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.

MobileTechReview · 04-23-2010, 05:11 PM

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!).

questionfear · 04-23-2010, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MobileTechReview

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.

pilotbob · 04-23-2010, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by questionfear

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

04-23-2010, 10:53 AM	#1
pilotbob Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,832 Karma: 11844413 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL USA Device: Kindle Touch	New Nook firmware v1.3 now avaiable 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

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04-23-2010, 11:13 AM	#3
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	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.

04-23-2010, 01:00 PM	#5
javajoe96 Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Saint Louis, MO Device: Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony PRS-700	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.

04-23-2010, 02:17 PM	#6
tgeek Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Nokia n800, Jetbook	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.

04-23-2010, 02:38 PM	#8
tgeek Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Nokia n800, Jetbook	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 (Google Books) Moby Dick (Project Gutenberg)

04-23-2010, 04:20 PM	#10
Kolenka <Insert Wit Here> Posts: 1,017 Karma: 1275899 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Puget Sound Device: Kindle Oasis, Kobo Forma	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

04-23-2010, 04:30 PM	#12
questionfear Connoisseur Posts: 73 Karma: 1516 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle 3	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.

04-23-2010, 05:11 PM	#13
MobileTechReview eBook Reader Junkie Posts: 136 Karma: 19205 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Dallas Device: Kindle Oasis 3	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!).

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