The way a user accesses the Google Play digital content store from their NOOK HD or NOOK HD+ device is through a notification which will be appearing on their device starting this week. This notification will have an opt-in option which downloads the Google Play store. With this download comes the full collection of Google services such as Gmail, YouTube, Google+, Google Search, Chrome browser, and Google Maps.

These apps come instantly when you download Google Play, each of them a requirement if you’d like to work with Google Play. Other than these additions, the NOOK experience remains entirely the same. Once you’ve downloaded Google Play and these apps all at once, the first time you tap any of them you’ll be asked to either create or log in to your Google account.

The NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ are the first two devices to be working with Google Play and will likely not be the last. This is the start of a relationship between Barnes & Noble and Google that we’re expecting will send ripples through the ereader industry – or at least send a shock over to Amazon. Have a peek at the NOOK timeline below to see events leading up to this release and let us know if this addition will be pushing you into the NOOK universe.

If you want easier bedtime reading, the backlit model is down from £109 to £69 ($107). The system works well in our experience; our review is here.

Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble’s tablet-ereaders are also discounted. The NOOK HD is priced from £129 ($200), down from £159, for instance – you can find our review of it here – while the NOOK HD+ is priced from £179 ($278), cutting £50 from the previous price.

Multiple retailers should be offering the new prices, though we’re already seeing some stock wobbles in some online stores. Exactly how long the promotion will last is unclear, and whether it will be followed up with an all-new range is questionable.

For that target audience of avid readers, Kobo insists that E Ink remains the way forward for usability. The Aura HD’s panel sees a step up in specifications, however, with a 1440 x 1080 resolution, 6.8-inch Pearl panel, running at 256ppi; it also has front-lighting, as we’ve seen on other recent ereaders from Amazon and B&N, though Kobo claims its system offers the most even illumination. It’s certainly bright and looked consistent across the panel. Inside, there’s WiFi b/g/n though no cellular connectivity, Kobo telling us it still doesn’t believe the hassle of getting 3G/4G hardware certified and the costs of data involved make it worthwhile for its audience.

Kobo is pretty keen to highlight its angular back-panel, though, modeled after a creased sheet of paper. The raised edges give your fingers somewhere to rest, so the theory goes; in practice, it’s certainly not the thinnest way to read an ebook – the iPad mini and Nexus 7 have replaced a standalone ereader for many – but the Aura HD is easy to grip and feels like it could survive a fall from your nightstand. Physical controls are limited to a power button (finished in a contrasting color) and a key for the “ComfortLight” illumination.

Everything else is operated with the touchscreen, which seems reasonably responsive. The Kobo homescreen pulls together your recently read titles – complete with both a percentage of how much is read, and a useful indication of roughly how long it might take you to read the rest, handy if you’re trying to plan ahead for a journey – with recommendations for new books and authors. A tally keeps track of how many books you’ve finished and how long you spent reading them, and you’re prompted to rate completed titles. The Aura HD also supports basic gaming, like chess, with widgets to access your most recent game.

In use, what impresses the most is the clarity of the ereader’s screen. Even at small font levels, there’s no graininess or jagged edges to the text, something Kobo said it achieved not only by virtue of the higher-density display resolution but by going back to first-principles with the fonts and redesigning them pixel-by-pixel to suit the E Ink panel. The screen is also 30-percent larger than other ereaders of a similar scale, and together with the improved readability at small sizes, that means more text on a single page and fewer turns. Fewer turns also adds up to longer battery life, as e-paper displays like the Aura HD’s only use power when they’re changing the content of the display, not maintaining it.

Otherwise, it’s pretty much par for the course for the Aura HD. The onboard 4GB of storage can be expanded by up to 32GB with a microSD card, and there’s a new Freescale i.MX527 processor that, at 1GHz, is apparently 25-percent faster than any rival model out there. We can’t say we noticed a significant uptick in speed, though we also didn’t encounter responsiveness issues.

Kobo has high hopes for the Aura HD, and says there’s still a strong market for ebook-centric devices rather than tablets. In fact, its own ereader sales tripled year-over-year, something the $169.99/€169.99 Aura HD is expected to contribute to. It’s already up for preorder in the US and Europe, and will arrive in US and UK stores come April 25.

When the first ebook reader was launched, propelling ebooks into the mainstream, the publishing world, writers, and readers became quite polarized, with some stating that it was the salvation of the publishing industry and others decrying it as the last nail in its coffin. Regardless, ebook readers proved very popular, transforming from slow-functioning e-ink slates to Android tablets with relevant ebook reading apps.

This is easily seen in the numbers published by the AAP, which has 2002 trade publishers’ ebook revenue representing 0.05-percent of its overall net revenue. This rose to 0.50-percent in 2006, and to 1.18-percent in 2008. The large rise started in 2009 at 3.17-percent, reaching 16.98-percent in 2011, and finally 22.55-percent last year. As the TNW points out, this works out to a growth of 2.25-percent per year.

When breaking ebook sales in 2012 down by month, however, the numbers show that December was its lowest, indicating that 2013 could be a slower year for ebook sales than last year. Regardless, the overall numbers keep climbing steadily, and we’re sure to see 2013 be the year that trade publishers see ebook sales account for a quarter – or more – of their total net revenue.

[via The Next Web]

While both Nooks are ereaders, they’re vastly different from each other, with the Nook HD+ being a full tablet complete with access to apps and a 1080p display, while the Nook Simple Touch is your traditional ereader – e-ink display, small screen, and long battery life. The Nook HD+ costs $269 for the 16GB (cheapest) option, and increases to $299 for the 32GB model. The Nook Simple Touch, meanwhile, costs $79 new, but will be free with the tablet.

The Nook HD+ has a 9-inch display with full HD resolution, and boasts being lightweight at a little over 18-ounces. The device can be used to watch video, use apps and Nook Channels, all of it via a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. The Nook Simple Touch, on the other hand, has a 6-inch e-ink display and a battery life of 2 months per charge. The e-ink display is a touchscreen, and is designed to be readable in sunlight.

NOOK Media’s President of Digital Products Jamie Iannone said, “By offering a free NOOK Simple Touch with the purchase of NOOK HD+, customers can fully experience all that the expansive NOOK Store of more than 3 million titles has to offer. NOOK HD+ … is perfect for experiencing movies, apps, magazines and more, while NOOK Simple Touch is ideal for reading millions of books.”

[via The Street]

The IDC believes that Android tablets will claim the top spot in the tablet market with a 48.8% market share. iPads will drop down to second place with a 46% market share, and Windows-based tablets will have a combined total of a 4.7% market share. In the future, the market share for both Android tablets and iPads will decrease as Windows-based tablets gain more momentum in the market. All in all, there should be a combined total of 350 million tablets shipped by the end of 2017.

Jitesh Ubrani, an analyst for IDC’s Tablet Tracker, states that “One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size. And in terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond.” Manufacturers are seeing a trend in smaller tablets outselling the more larger 10-inch tablets. The smaller tablets are much easier to carry around and to use when performing daily tasks.

The IDC believes that the low-budget Android tablets are the main reason for Android’s success in the tablet market. Consumers don’t want to spend $500 on a high-end premium Android tablet or iPad when there is a $150-$200 tablet, like the Kindle Fire, that can give them everything they need. Low-cost Android tablets are also hurting the sales of eReaders, which have seen a decline year-over-year due to the more efficient, tablets. The IDC has reduced its forecasted shipments of eReaders by 14% from the years 2013 to 2016.

[via IDC]

The company also expects their NOOK revenue this year to be less than $3 billion, which means that the company didn’t have a very successful holiday season as well. The growing popularity of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets and Apple’s iPad was at the expense of Barnes & Noble’s NOOK business, which ended up suffering during the busiest shopping time of the year.

Plus, if the company’s Q2 2013 earnings were bad, than Q3′s numbers must be plain miserable. Last quarter, Barnes & Noble sold fewer NOOK slates in its stores than previous quarters, and the company saw dips in revenue all across the board. NOOK revenue only account for just over 8% of the company’s total revenue that quarter.

Just before the turn of the new year, Barnes & Noble announced that British publishing company Pearson was going to invest $89.5 million in the NOOK business. We haven’t heard much about that deal since its announcement, but it’s possible that the company may bring it up at next week’s earnings call.

If you’re paying for a digital book, you have the right to look at that book as much as you’d like – and in most cases, download it to a limited number of devices at any one time. Here with Amazon’s Kindle rentals, you’ll be doing the same – but instead of your limits stopping at the amount of devices you can download to, you’re limited to time. The price being significantly less for these limited amounts of time may just be the ticket to those of you out there that have steel trap memories and tight pocketbooks in the e-generation.

If you have a peek at one of the very, very few titles available with rentals thus far by the name of Theories of International Politics and Zombies (courtesy of tipster Karen at Zats Not Funny, you’ll find that the Buy Price is (as it usually is) a little more than half of the price of the list price. The rent price, then, is less than half that cost – 80% off the original list price. Of course that’s the price to rent a digital copy for 30 days instead of owning the original print book forever, but the price difference is extremely important to the author in the end.

Is this the future of literature? Will we be working with Spotify services for books before too long where authors are compensated for each read? Maybe that’s better for the author than the print process – who can tell? One way or the other, you’re going to be able to rent books with your Kindle tablet or Kindle-capable mobile device immediately if not soon – have a peek and see if you can find any titles with the ability!

[via Engadget]

Last year marked some big milestones for Kobo, including the launch of three devices: the Kobo Glo, Arc, and Mini. The company expanded its service into Japan, Spain, South Africa, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, and the Netherlands, and reports that customers purchased more ebooks on average than they did in 2011.

According to the press release, Kobo’s users read in excess of 22 million pages on Christmas, with Canadians topping the list at an average of 200 pages read per customers. Users in the United States were second, averaging 160 pages read per customer, and British users were third at an average of 93 pages each. The most popular genre was Romance, which was particularly favored in Canada, while the Hunger Games was the most widely-read ebook series.

Kobo’s CEO Michael Serbinis offered this statement. “In December we celebrated Kobo’s third anniversary as well as the biggest month for the company yet. Millions of new users registered with Kobo in December alone, annual device sales soared with millions of Kobo eReaders bought, and eBook sales nearly doubled from the previous year. 2012 was truly outstanding for our company and our network of booksellers and retailers around the world.”

[via PR Newswire]

Microsoft invested $300 million in NOOK earlier this year, and they own 16.8% of the business, and while Pearson will only own 5% at this point, they’re thinking about purchasing another 5% sometime in the future. The value of the NOOK business remains more than double the market capitalization of Barnes & Noble, and shares of the company jumped 10% to $15.83 in premarket trading.

According to Barnes & Noble, Pearson’s investment in NOOK Media will essentially pair up Pearson’s leading expertise in online learning with Barnes & Noble’s expertise in online distribution and customer service. The company says this will “facilitate improved discovery of available digital content and services, as well as seamless access.”

Barnes & Noble said that its e-reader business would fall short of projections for the year and that holiday sales overall would be below expectations. The NOOK has been trying to challenge Amazon‘s dominance of the e-book market, and this latest investment gives the business backing from one of the world’s largest education companies, as well as the publisher of The Financial Times newspaper.

In fact, Kindle is an Amazon success story all round, not just the more direct iPad-rivaling models. In addition to the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire, the Kindle Paperwhite and regular Kindle ereaders together hold the top four positions in the Amazon worldwide sales charts.

That hardware has seen digital content demand jump too. Amazon says it saw its biggest day for digital downloads ever on December 25, as over 23m movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, apps, and games, were downloaded on Christmas day. That’s not solely to Kindle devices, of course, since Amazon also offers the Appstore for general Android devices, and streaming media to other platforms.

Kindle Fire HD sales were already buoyant. Amazon had announced back in October that the tablet was the best-selling product across all the countries it operates in.

At one point, that would have given Barnes & Noble a significant advantage over Amazon, whose online sales strategy meant it lacked a brick & mortar outlet for its Kindle range. However, that changed when the firm began pushing Kindle ereaders and tablets through retail partners; you can pick up a Kindle Fire at Best Buy or Staples, now, for instance.

However Walmart doesn’t offer Kindle products, having cut its ties with Amazon back in September. That should give B&N some extra visibility in-store, something the company desperately needs since its recent financial results have been less than gratifying.

As for whether the NOOKs are worth the money, the HD made our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide for recommended tablets, and you can find our review here.

The problem is not with the device itself, but rather the competition it is up against. When given the prospect of choosing either a dedicated ebook reader that can do little else than display text or a tablet running Android or iOS, the choice is obvious for most consumers. The increase in affordable Android tablets in particular has hurt the dedicated e-ink ebook reader market.

This information comes from the research firm iSuppli, which looked at sales data from the last five years and noted a sharp drop in sales. This comes after a rather robust and steady sales increase that held firm for five years. Perhaps the biggest blow to the market was when companies began offering Android tablets specifically as ereaders, such as the Kindle Fire and certain Nook devices.

In 2011, over 20 million dedicated ebook readers were shipped worldwide. If the current drop in sales figures holds, however, iSuppli estimates that only 7 million dedicated readers will go out in the 2015 – 2016 time span. As the agency points out, this is not an unexpected fate given the dedicated ereader’s rather singular function. Consumers are gravitating towards gadgets that can function as multiple pieces of technology, which tablets offer.

[via iSuppli]

We’ve had a peek at the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 very recently in our full review, this showing off how you’re not just getting an ereader with this package, you’re getting a full tablet. But not just a full tablet, mind you, an Amazon window into their full content library – don’t expect an Android tablet here, it only runs the software under the hood. This device has a full-color display as well, nothing like the Barnes & Noble offering. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 has been discounted by $50, this making the price closer to $250 USD in its least expensive iteration.

The Nook Simple Touch on the other hand is an ereader in every sense of the word. Here you’ve got an eink display and a size that’s much tinier than the comparatively massive Kindle Fire HD 8.9. This machine has “16 levels of gray” and is made for reading text-based-books from start to finish. The hardware here is 6.5 x 5 x 0.47 inches and weighs in at a tiny 7.48 ounces, and the discount is permanent, it seems: $79 USD total, down from the $99 it was previously.

Have a peek at our lovely 2012 holiday gift guide for tablets as well to make sure you’re up to date on all of the best-of-2012 action for the holidays. It might be time to decide between the ereader and the full tablet experience here at the dawn of 2013 – perhaps time for a switch?

Barnes & Noble says that the Nook Simple Touch is available for the new price in Barnes & Noble retail stores, online, and through other retailers including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. This reader has 6-inch touchscreen that uses E ink technology. The screen offers 16-levels of grey and is designed to be easy to read in bright sunlight.

The screen resolution of 800×600 and the device promises over two months of battery life per charge based on reading for half an hour each day. The tablet is 6.5-inches tall, 5.0-inches wide, and 0.47-inches deep and weighs 7.48 ounces.

The device has integrated Wi-Fi and is able to connect for free Wi-Fi networks and Barnes & Noble stores and 24,000 AT&T hotspots nationwide. The Simple Touch has 2 GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot for supporting up to 32 GB.

Content Delivery System

It’s a mistake to compare the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 to any other tablet on the market not inside the Kindle Fire family unless you’re a software developer, a hacker, or you’re just about to jump into the digital content arena and have never before purchased yourself a digital video. With the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, the iPad 4th generation (the one with the Lightning port that’s in the store now), and the Google Nexus 10, you’ve got extremely high definition displays, and it’s there you should start if you’re demanding to see the best hardware package.

But here’s the thing: there’s a massive amount of Android tablets on the market today, each of them able to access the whole of the Google Play store. There’s several iPad models in the line’s history, and a set of rather similar Kindle Fire models tablets out there able to access the Amazon content system – but Amazon’s system doesn’t stop at the Kindle Fire. The only system that stops at the hardware (and vice versa) is the iPad.

What the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 does is place the Amazon content system directly at the center of a machine that’s been checked and approved by Amazon itself. With that, it’s been limited to the Amazon content system so that you can be assured an experience that Amazon approves of – Apple does that same thing with the iPad. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is indeed a fabulous place to access your Amazon content.

The connectivity on this device is wi-fi but a 4G LTE bit of AT&T mobile data is available from Amazon if you pick up the edition with that ability. The offer behind that LTE is interesting at $50 a year, but with a limit of 250MB of data a month – this means you’ll be able to use this device for email using that data, and if you start watching streaming content or downloading media, you’ll go over in no time at all. Watch the overage costs rack up and that smile will turn upside down real quick.

Hardware

The display is extremely nice, bringing on a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels over 8.9 inches, that being 254ppi. That’s less than the iPad 4 and less than the Nexus 10, but up at this resolution we’re not able to tell the difference without getting up real, real close – closer than we’d get on any normal day, that’s for sure.

Colors are reproduced extremely accurately and with the darks on this machine being as deep as they are, we’ve been using this machine as a content machine via the miniHDMI as a top pick. Downloading an HD video from Amazon’s collection and playing it on the device or through the microHDMI port to an HDTV makes for a massively impressive experience – amongst the best on the market if not straight up the best there is with a wire.

The speakers on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 are Dolby powered and stereo – bringing on two channels for real. The speakers on this device are loud enough that you’ll not want to be a room away from a sleeping baby when them turned all the way up – you’ll wake that baby up. It’s unfortunate that they’re facing backwards as most of the tablet universe still has them aiming, but holding the tablet with two hands has the sound bouncing off your palms – that’s good enough for most.

Battery life on this device is rather good, especially since you’re only working with wi-fi connectivity at this time. LTE might make you bust down a bit quicker when it comes around, but for now you’ve got a couple of days at least with daily usage as a game-player and TV show downloader/watcher. Chatting on Skype (which is, mind you, generally OK but certainly not the nicest Skype experience on the market by a long shot due to less-than-perfect video quality) will drain your battery quickest.

There’s also a rather nice case/cover that you’ll probably want to pick up from Amazon if/when you purchase the Kindle Fire HD 8.9. It’s made by Amazon and looks like what you’re seeing above, complete with a magnetic “smart” off/on function (as the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 does indeed have that sensor) and has a rubbery bumper that allows it to stand up like you’re seeing here too.

Performance

With the processor mentioned above you’ve got a suitable environment in which you can play most if not all of the most high-powered games on the market. What you’ll see in the video below is Asphalt 7, a racing game, opened and tested in a real basic way just so you can see how quick everything renders out and responds – just as nice as the nicest devices on the market today.

We’ve heard of some people having small problems with the user interface and non-immediate opening of apps and switching between screens, but any such problems were negligible from our perspective. This is a high-quality device and Amazon has created a user interface over the top of Android that should do the original creators proud.

You’ve got a processor from Texas Instruments that’s one of the rarest on the market today, the OMAP4470 dual-core used only on the Nook HD family, Samsung Galaxy Premier, the BlackBerry Dev Alpha B, and a variety of oddities. This processor works perfectly well for this device, comparing in performance with the other dual-core processor on them market in a very general sense to the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor we’ve seen on a large number of smartphones this year including the Galaxy S III and HTC One series.

The processing power here does not bring us as ultra-swift a system as we’re seeing on the Nexus 10 or the iPad 4th gen – but the difference is invisible if you’re not using both one next to the other or doing extensive processor tests in a lab. Once you’ve got it in the lab, on the other hand, you’ll find the device ranking up on systems such as AnTuTu benchmark system with a score of 7247 – nowhere near the quad-core competition.

Store Access

If you’re not planning on purchasing videos from Amazon, you don’t want to use Amazon’s system for music, you’ve got no intention of purchasing any ebooks from Amazon, and you don’t want to use Amazon’s App Store, this is not the tablet for you. This unit is first and foremost a window into the Amazon library of digital content, and you’re going to have to pay for it.

The Amazon store exists at all corners in this device, and the different kinds of media you’re consuming here sit right up front and center. The first display you see on this device once you’ve started it up is a giant set of icons in a side-scrolling gallery that says quite clearly “you’re about to start” rather than “welcome to your Amazon tablet.” If there’s a scale from tablet interfaces that goes from standard computer to window, it starts at Android, moves up to the iPad, and ends at the Amazon Kindle Fire – this is not a device you’re going to use like your notebook or your desktop, it’s a consumption window.

X-Ray

There’s a brand overlay that exists between two different bits of in-content excellence that come with this device working with content from Amazon called X-Ray. This system works in videos as a direct connection to IMDB, showing the actors that are working in essentially any given scene and with books showing keywords and connections to them throughout the story you’re reading – find all the Ali Babas in the story and link in to them with ease.

This system works with a lovely collection of ebooks and videos coming from Amazon – not every single piece of content coming from Amazon, but certainly enough to warrant calling it a great selling point for this tablet. We’re always wondering who the heck that guy is getting his face cut off by the monster in the horror film scene we’re watching – now we know!

Kindle FreeTime

The folks at Amazon have come up with an extremely simple home screen replacement app that brings forth an environment for your kids. This environment is created by you, the parent, and is so simple that you can’t mess it up. You open up Kindle FreeTime and select the profile you want, deciding there what settings you want your child to work with and what apps/media they’re going to be able to see, and bang, you’re done.

From there the person in that profile – child or not – needs a password to exit again. That’s so simple that we wish Amazon would release FreeTime for the Google Play app store – please? Pretty please? For now you’ll need a Kindle Fire to use Kindle FreeTime – and for some parents that might be a deal-maker.

Wrap-up

If you’re deeply invested in the Amazon universe for content, this device is the best content delivery system you’re going to be able to buy today. It’s the biggest tablet Amazon makes at the moment and gives you access to all of your Amazon-held content in high definition, top to bottom. It’s not an Android tablet (as far as the Google Play store is concerned), it’s not an iPad, and it’s not a Windows device. It’s a unique tablet that’s deeply engrained in the Android environment.

The price of this device in its wi-fi configuration – that being the one we’re looking at here in this review – is $299 USD, and for that price there’s no competition unless you want a smaller display and a different content environment. For Amazon users, there’s nothing else – unless of course you consider the smaller version: see our Kindle Fire HD 7 full review as well.

Chief Executive William Lynch let it be known that his forecast for the fiscal year stands – he believes that the Nook segment of the company’s loss will narrow without a doubt. It’s not out of the question as just half way through the fiscal year the business is in, loss had increased just 6.1 percent to $108.1 million – much narrower than it could have been.

Meanwhile the new Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets were launched right after the company’s second fiscal quarter – that being the one ending on October 27th of 2012. The real battle, then, is now for Barnes & Noble’s tablet warriors to take out the iPad mini as well as the Kindle Fire HD 7 and 8.9. They’re certainly making strides in Target and Wal-Mart stores, it seems, as the company reported sales doubling from last year over Thanksgiving weekend.

This was helped at least a little bit by the fact that Target and Walmart no longer sell Kindle tablets of any kind. Lynch noted that Barnes & Noble continues to rule a 25-30 percent share of the e-books market in the USA, while net quarterly income was positive at $2.2 million – this much, much better than last year’s results at this time which were a loss of $6.6 million.

[via Reuters]

Barnes & Noble launched its NOOK ereaders in the UK market over the past month or so, initially with the NOOK Simple Touch and its GlowLight illuminated sibling, and then with the NOOK HD and HD+ earlier this week. The retailer has said that the NOOK Video download and rental store will launch in the UK sometime in December.

Cross device synchronization means that any downloads made to a dedicated NOOK device can also be added to a smartphone or tablet running the NOOK app. NOOK Sync keeps your point in the book up to date, as well as pulling across bookmarks, highlights, and any notes that have been made.

There’s also NOOK Newsstand, for digital magazines and newspapers, with print-style layout. You can find NOOK for Android in the Play store, while NOOK for iOS is available in the App Store. Both are free downloads.

The particular Kindle Fire in the promotion is the updated entry-level model. That features a 1.2GHz processor and 1GB RAM, which Amazon claims makes it 40-percent faster than its predecessor, along with 8GB of storage and a battery good for up to 9hrs of reading, browsing, video playback, or other uses.

Under the hood there’s Android, though Amazon comprehensively reskins Google’s platform for its own purposes, and redirects all shopping through its own app and media stores. The Nexus 7 remains the better generic Android tablet choice, while the Kindle Fire HD has a better display.

Before you get visions of outfitting the whole family with a cheap Kindle Fire, however, Amazon has limited the promotion to a single unit per shopper. You’ll need to use the “FIREDEAL” coupon code when you check out in order to score the $129 slate.

Barnes & Nobles tablets have always been pretty great for what they are, but it’s their content and ecosystem that still wasn’t quite up to par with the competition. Now that they have even better hardware, millions of books, magazines, newspapers, apps and even a Nook video store it’s time to take another look at the Nook. Their new Nook HD has the highest resolution display of any 7-inch tablet, runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and is designed with readers in mind.

Hardware

B&N hasn’t wandered too far from the original tablets they’ve offered in terms of design, but it’s the small things that make the new HD their best tablet yet. B&N says their Nook HD display is “better than any other 7-inch tablet” while it features a 1440 x 900 HD resolution, still manages to be rather sleek coming in at 11mm thick and weighing only 11 ounces too. After using the tablet you’ll quickly see why. The screen is bright, vibrant, and crisp and the viewing angles are excellent. This makes reading a breeze. We’ll talk more on that below but for now lets round out the specs. The Nook HD rocks a 7-inch 1440 x 900 HD display, a 1.3 GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4 processor, 1GB of RAM, and comes with 8 or 16GB of storage options, not to mention a micro-SD slot for expanding those options.

The display rocks 243ppi and support for 720p video playback. Tipping the scales at 315g, it undercuts the Kindle Fire HD and, at 127mm wide, is narrower too. The Nook HD is lighter than the Fire HD, Nexus 7, and the iPad Mini and is smaller than them all except the Nexus 7. This makes it easy to use on the go, hold with a single hand, and of course you can read with ease. There’s no cameras on board, but then again this is more about content consumption than creation. The micro-USB port has been dropped in favor of their own 30 pin connector on bottom, which doubles as HDMI-out but you’ll need a special dongle for full support. We have the familiar Nook home button on the front, and they’ve placed the usual power and volume rocker buttons in easy to access places. The power is on the left top side, while the volume is placed on the right. They are out of the way during reading, but easy to find and access when needed. Overall we actually found the design in general to be quite pleasing after using the device for more than a day or two. It isn’t too pretty, but functions great.

Just like the Kindle Fire HD the Nook is more a reader than a tablet, but B&N has no problem showing us that. The Kindle is slowly becoming more and more a device for games and movies, while the NOOK HD is clearly geared for reading. You’ll notice that right off the bat with their soft-touch contoured design, curved edges for an easy grip, and the bezels up front. At first we weren’t too fond of the bezel on the front being in the way of the display, but once you read a few magazines you quickly realize just how comfortable it makes your experience — something no other tablets can tout. Despite the plastic edges and buttons the device doesn’t feel too cheap, but certainly doesn’t give you a premium feeling like the iPad mini.

The display was one of our favorite aspects on the Nexus 7, aside from Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but the NOOK HD takes the cake here. Viewing angles are great and overall reading a book or enjoying a video you quickly notice just how much effort they put into the display. Sadly they focused a lot of attention on the display and didn’t think about adding a camera or better audio. While we don’t miss the camera the SRS sound wasn’t nearly as nice as we’d hoped.

Software

With the new line of NOOK tablets B&N added a long list of new features. Trying to better compete with the Nexus 7 and the iPad mini they’ve certainly stepped up their offering, but you still get a feeling this is all about reading. We have over 3 million books, magazines, apps and more, and they’ve added a new Nook Video option for movies. Movies look amazing on the HD display, but it’s the reading experience that shines on this slate. Running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but you’d never know it, B&N has added plenty to make this stand on it’s own. We have tabbed browsing now, something that sadly was missing before, and the Nook profiles are a breeze to set up.

Beating Google to the punch here we have multiple user accounts that work quite seamlessly. Each has its own apps, settings, background, profile picture and more. Flipping between them is as easy as hitting the power button and sliding in, but the delay to change backgrounds and apps was longer than expected. the carousel homescreen is ever so familiar if you’ve used a Nook or a Kindle Fire, and populates with recently opened apps or books for easy access. They’ve managed to keep the Android 4.0 multi-tasking feature with its own dedicated on-screen button, something that is sorely missing from those Amazon slates. Overall the Nook user interface has a nice 3D effect and pops out at the user, giving it another element of refinement. Sadly there didn’t seem to be a video resume option in their software (which were told will be addressed in an update) and the audio was lacking so much we tried to find a setting to turn it up — which wasn’t available.

Those few qwerks aside B&N has done a lot to make this more than a reader, even though at heart that is still what it is. As you saw in our video above they’ve added tons of new additions. From Nook Magazines that look amazing in both portrait or landscape for dual-page views, Nook Scrapbooks so you can easily crop out and save your favorite excerpts, and even Catalogs. Yup, New with the NOOK HD catalogs offer a convenient way to browse and shop HD catalogs such as the Pottery Barn, L.L Bean, Frontgate, and more. The NOOK will populate top choices, and again the HD screen makes viewing and turning the pages just gorgeous and vibrant. You can then use the Scrapbook feature to save things of interest for later, or share them with family or friends.

Newspaper and magazine reading has multiple options to enjoy the content, or to just read the text. There’s on screen keys to zoom out and get a full magazine view for easy panning through content, or you can cut out all the images and just enjoy the text if you choose. NOOK video is also a new option that brings the NOOK lineup closer to their competition. Offering thousands of films, movies, and TV from multiple major studios. They don’t have anything like Apple or Google yet, but it’s a work in progress and one more addition that makes the NOOK HD “do it all” instead of just being a reader. They even offer these in up to 1080p downloads to take advantage of their brilliant HD displays.

NOOK Comics and Books are just as they’ve always been, which are excellent, but they’ve put some focus on high quality comics as well as new fonts to make books have a “paper” feel while reading. With more than 3 million digital books and more you’ll always be able to find what you want — for the most part. Even Twilight if you must. Overall the software is quite pleasant, even if it doesn’t feel like Android, and their app store has grown enough to stand on its own for those that don’t need the full Google experience. With 10 times as many apps as last year they’re doing ok, but still don’t offer many games and apps that most tablets enjoy. However, B&N has secured most of the top 100 apps from competing platforms to stay relevant and keep users happy. So enjoy that Angry Birds and Words with Friends.

As mentioned above the browsers been improved and now finally supports tabbed browsing, and their new built-in email app also offers features that were previously missing. Things like Microsoft exchange support, as well as calendar and contact sync for Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo! and more. Sadly everything just wasn’t quite as fast as we’d hoped. And that’s in all aspects of the UI, not just email and browsing.

Competition

For $199 and $229 the NOOK HD is an awesome tablet and reading experience. That is for sure. Whether or not it’s worth the price compared to the competition is another story altogether. At the same price point the Nexus 7 is a complete tablet and Android experience, yet offers more storage at 16GB for $199. Then you have the iPad mini. Obviously there’s a little price premium topping the $300 mark but you’ll get much, much more. While not everyone wants to spend the extra for the iPad, the little difference just delivers so much more in terms of content. We only state that for the simple fact that B&N is trying to offer so much content for the device. In the end it still fails as a “tablet” and thus we must give the Nexus 7 and iPad mini the win here. For those seeking a tablet mainly for reading but will still enjoy those other features, we believe the NOOK HD is a better choice than most. The design is geared for reading and the experience just feels better than that of the Kindle Fire. B&N also doesn’t have ads in your face like those Amazon folks.

Wrap-Up

In the end Barnes & Noble invested a lot into both their hardware and software, and it shows. The screen is vibrant and crisp, performance is snappy and family friendly, and their unique industrial design stands out from the competition while remaining familiar. Overall while B&N has made an excellent product the software and ecosystem still needs some help. Riddled with poor performance in the OS and gaming, everything but reading books and magazines just takes too much effort when you’ve used iOS or regular Android.

When it comes down to what we want in a tablet this delivers in terms of hardware, but still fails just enough in the software and content to truly make it worthy of a full recommendation. While we love where the NOOK line is going — and hope it will get there — the Nexus 7, iPad mini, and Kindle Fire HD still offer more that make them an easier and better choice. Lacking the ecosystem of true Android or iOS, not having a camera, and not delivering enough content for consumption like the Kindle Fire HD achieves makes this a miss. If you’re invested in the B&N world already, this is a worthy update in all aspects and is by far the best NOOK yet.

The little Kobo Mini digital reader is on sell for $30 off for Black Friday and Cyber Monday specials. The special discount on the little the reader will run from now until November 26 and people who purchase the device will get a free copy of the book Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro. The $30 discount brings the price of the Kobo Mini to $49.99.

The special price will be available in stores today and online Monday. The device is one of the smaller digital readers on the market with a five-inch touchscreen an integrated Wi-Fi. The special price for the device is available at Best Buy and other retail locations around the country. The five-inch screen uses E-ink technology making it easy to read in direct sunlight with no glare.

The little digital reader also has seven different font styles and 24 font sizes along with weight and sharpness settings for fonts to make it easier to read for all users. The reader is available in black or white and has three interchangeable SnapBack back color options are available including red, purple, and teal.

That NOOK Video store – which will offer titles for purchase and for rental – will go live in the UK in early December, Barnes & Noble says. Until then, there are 2.5m books to choose from and an unspecified number of magazines and apps.

The NOOK HD, which has a 7-inch display and a 1.3GHz dualcore processor, is priced at £159 for the 8GB version and £189 for the 16GB version. Each is available in white or grey, has a 1440 x 900 resolution display – besting the iPad mini‘s non-Retina resolution - and a microSD card slot for adding more storage.

As for the NOOK HD+, that has a Full HD 9-inch touchscreen and a 1.5GHz dualcore processor. B&N steps up the memory options, too, offering a 16GB model for £229 and a 32GB for £269. Like its smaller sibling, it has an expandable memory slot, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, and stereo speakers.

Both tablets will be offered online as well as through high-street retailers including John Lewis, Argos, Asda, Dixons, Sainsbury, Waitrose, Blackwell’s, and Foyles.

For the past five years, the Kindle has been a staple in the book industry, and each year Amazon has improved on the device to make it better and easier to use for consumers. Putting Amazon’s latest Kindle, the Kindle Paperwhite, next to the original Kindle side-by-side makes you shake your head at the strides that Amazon has made to the ereader throughout the past five years.

The first-ever Kindle featured an 800×600 e-ink display and had 250MB of internal storage, with the option to expand storage with a microSD card (the only Kindle that had a memory card slot). The device sold for $399 and ended up selling out within the first few hours of launch. It wasn’t until April 2008 when stock of the ereader was replenished.

Since then, Amazon has slowly been slimming down its Kindle ereaders and even adding touchscreens in order to eliminate all the buttons for a sleeker design. Last year was the first time Amazon introduced a touchscreen on a Kindle device, called the Kindle Touch. It came with 4GB of storage and retailed for as low as $99.

The Arc tablet will be available at Indigo-Chapters, Best Buy, and Future Shop stores in Canada, while the UK will have the tablet in stock at WHSmith, and at Fnac Booksellers in France. Pricing will start at $199.99 for the 16GB model, while $249.99 will get you a 32GB version and $299.99 for the 64GB variant.

The Kobo Arc is Google-certified, and features a 7-inch 1280×800 HD display (215ppi), with a 1.5GHz OMAP 4470 dual-core processor running the show. It comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but surprisingly, Kobo says that they’re already working to roll out an upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

With access to Google Play, as well as the company’s own content, Kobo Arc users have access to a wide range of Android apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, and of course, books (and lots of them). While the Kobo Arc looks to be a real competitor in the 7-inch tablet market, the bigger companies currently have a hold on it, especially Google, who recently launched an updated Nexus 7 tablet, as well as their new Nexus 10.

[via Android Community]

There’s control over font size as well as display contrast, and the app can be set into either day or night reading modes depending on the ambient lighting conditions. Users can also organize their libraries into different collections, so as to keep larger numbers of ebooks in order.

Bookmarks are supported, and there’s all the cover art and book information you’d expect if you’ve ever used an ereader app. Sony’s role in the ebook space has been overshadowed by those of Apple, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble in recent months, but the company is obviously hoping that a little cross-platform availability will boost its market share.

Of course, it faces strong competition, not least from Apple itself, which has shifted to position the iPad mini as a perfect dedicated ereader alternative, suited to one-handed use. Unlike Apple’s iBooks, too, Sony has opted to leave out direct access to its store from the app, since that would demand giving Apple a tithe on each purchase.

Sony Reader for iOS is a free download [iTunes link] for the iPhone and iPad.

The Kobo Glo is slated for shipment on November 15. It’s priced at ¥7,980, and features an adjustable embedded light, as well as an SD card expansion slot, and a 6-inch no-glare e-ink display with an XGA resolution. There’s wifi, giving users access to Kobo’s eBookstore, and the battery life is rated at one month.

The Kobo Mini is slated for release some time in December, and is priced at ¥6,980. According to the press release, the Mini is the world’s smallest and lightest “full-featured” e-ink reader. The device has a 5-inch no-glare display, and is available in black and white. No backlight, sadly. It can hold up to 1,000 ebooks.

The Kobo Touch’s price has been dropped to ¥6,980 from it’s original price of ¥7,980. Said Kobo’s CEO Michael Serbinis, “The Japanese eReading market is taking off with new and exciting products coming from Kobo this gift-giving season… We’re working closely with retail partners to successfully integrate the Kobo Reader, digital content, and the Kobo eBookstore into the ecosystem – to deliver an experience that is tailored to the Japanese market and consumer.”

Retailers such as John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, and if course Barnes & Noble‘s own Nook.co.uk site are now officially stocked up on NOOK Simple Touch ereaders. The regular model is priced at £79, while the Glowlight model (which has a front-lit display) will cost you £109. Those who purchase the device will have access to Barnes & Noble’s 2.5 million ebooks.

The company is also bringing their NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ over to the UK starting in late-November, but they’re available to pre-order online right now. The NOOK HD is a 7-inch tablet, while the NOOK HD+ comes with two more inches of screen real estate for those who want a bigger display. The NOOK HD will cost £159, and £229 will get you the NOOK HD+.

If you’re looking for a cheap, simple ereader, the NOOK Simple Touch is about as basic as it gets. We really like the Glowlight model, but the regular $99 model is a steal. It can store around 1,000 ebooks, but the microSD card slot makes it easy to upgrade storage space. Plus, the battery can last for up to two months.

In Japan, the Kindle Paperwhite is priced at 8,480 yen, while the WiFi + 3G version of the illuminated ereader goes for 12,980. It uses NTT DoCoMo 3G, which is all prepaid so there’s no bill for downloading ebooks on the move (bar the cost of the title itself, of course). Both will begin shipping from November 19.

As for Amazon’s tablets, they’re a little more expensive in general. The Kindle Fire is priced at 12,800 yen with its 7-inch touchscreen, while the Kindle Fire HD is available from 15,800 yen for the 16GB model; the 32GB version is also available.

Both tablets are up for preorder today – as is the Kindle Paperwhite – and the Fire duo will ship from December 19. Amazon will also offer them in-store at Japanese retailers K’s Holdings, Bic Camera, Joshin Denki, and Kitamura.

Amazon hasn’t officially announced anything about the discontinuation of the Kindle Touch, but it seems that’s a trend of theirs now, as they didn’t say anything about the Kindle DX either. Currently, the Kindle Touch is “currently unavailable” from Amazon’s website, and it directs users to a “newer model” of the item, which is the Kindle Paperwhite.

This isn’t a huge deal per se, but those who are wanting a Kindle ereader are left with very few options at the moment. The Kindle Paperwhite is still back-ordered by “4 to 6 weeks,” and that may even change in the coming weeks if or when Amazon re-evaluates their inventory. That’s enough to make holiday shoppers a little nervous if they plan on buying a Kindle Paperwhite for a loved one.

The only Kindle ereaders currently available are the regular Kindle starting at $69, and the Kindle Keyboard at $139. Both models are barebones and come with only a fraction of the features of the Kindle Paperwhite, so we’re guessing not a lot of people will want to jump for those models. In any case, the Kindle Touch is dead. Long live the Kindle Paperwhite.

[via Paid Content]

Now that Amazon has unveiled its new Kindle Fire HD and Paperwhite devices, it seems no place was left for the Kindle DX. The significant discount on the Kindle DX was an effort to remove stocks ahead of the new products launching and Amazon is no longer selling the DX directly to customers. If you’ve have been wanting one of the larger Kindle DX readers, you can still get it used via third-party merchants on Amazon.

The indication that the DX is being removed from the Kindle line comes in the fact that there’s no mention of when the device will be back in stock. The tablet has also reportedly been removed from the Kindle family box and the comparison tables of different Kindle models on Amazon. Taken together that indicates that the DX has, in fact, been discontinued rather than simply being out of stock.

The chance of a new model of similar size packing its own little keyboard coming aren’t great. The market has shifted significantly towards tablets, and Amazon has done impressively well with its Kindle Fire line of tablets so far.

[viaThe eBook Reader]

One caveat Amazon mentions is the lack of audio or Text-to-Speech on the Paperwhite. The feature can be found on the Kindle Fire series, but in order to make the Paperwhite as small and light as possible, Amazon was forced to leave out the audio features for now. Maybe we’ll see them in the Paperwhite 2?

A lot of users have also been complaining about the uneven lighting from the LED front light, where the display would seem darker towards the bottom than at the top. However, Amazon says this is normal and that the illumination is better than a normal book light anyway. We’d have to agree there, since the Paperwhite’s lighting is certainly better and more convenient than any fancy book light around.

Amazon also brought up the limitation of only 2GB of storage in the Kindle Paperwhite, as opposed to other Kindle models that had 4GB. The company actually didn’t explain why they limited the storage to 2GB, but they noted that it’s enough to hold over 1,000 books. Plus, users also have free cloud storage that they can use.

However, users don’t really need to be worried if they’re thinking about buying a Kindle Paperwhite. They sold out fast, and it seems a majority of customers are seeing the Paperwhite as a huge step up from previous Kindle generations, so if you’re in the market for a new ereader, the Paperwhite may be a good option for you.

[via The eBook Reader]

“We sell the hardware at our cost, so it is break-even on the hardware” the chief executive said. “We want to make money when people use our devices, not when people buy our devices.”

The strategy has allowed Amazon to continue to increase pressure on its ereader rivals, with price cuts by Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and others all usually being parried by trimming of Kindle pricing too. More recently, Amazon has introduced its “Special Offers” system, in which the price of the ereader itself is discounted in return for showing advertising on the lockscreen and homescreen.

According to Bezos, Amazon’s approach has paid off in media sales. “What we find is that when people buy a Kindle they read four times as much as they did before they bought the Kindle” he explained. Nor, perhaps more surprisingly, do they necessarily switch entirely to digital. ”They don’t stop buying paper books” Bezos revealed, “Kindle owners read four times as much, but they continue to buy both types of books.”

Amazon put the new Kindle Paperwhite up for preorder in select European countries today, having seen the illuminated ereader sell out in the US. It will be accompanied by an expansion of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library system, which allows Amazon Prime subscribers to borrow ebooks as part of their subsidized shipping package.

In the UK, the Kindle Paperwhite is priced at £109 for the WiFi-only model, and £169 for the WiFi+3G version which allows you to download ebooks outside of wireless hotspots. In France and Germany, meanwhile, the two models are priced at €129 and €189 respectively.

Amazon is limiting orders to two per shopper, and demand for the Paperwhite is likely to be strong. Sales in the US quickly saw shipping estimates stretch out to 4-6 weeks, and the addition of Amazon’s Kindle Owners’ Lending Library in the UK, Germany, and France later this month will only increase attention on the new ereader.

We’ve already played with the Kindle Paperwhite, and you can see how the illuminating system works in the video below. If you’re still hungry for details, there’s more on the Kindle Paperwhite in our full review.

Instead of letting buyers name their own price for a series of indie games, the Humble eBook Bundle features a collection of – you guessed it – six eBooks. The eBooks included in this bundle are Invasion by Mercedes Lackey, Zoo City by Lauren Beukes, Pump Six by Paolo Bacigalupi, Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow, and two books by Kelly Link, Stranger Things Happen and Magic for Beginners. If you pay more than the average, which currently sits $11.14, you’ll also get copies of Old Man’s War by John Scalzi and the graphic novel Signal to Noise by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean.

A new charity has also been added for the Humble eBook Bundle. In addition to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play, which have been mainstays since the very first Humble Bundle, a portion of the proceeds from each sale will also be going to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The books are available in PDF, MOBI, and ePub formats, so they should work with computers, eReaders, and mobile devices.

The Humble Bundle folks are quick to point out that many of these books are making their digital debuts in the Humble eBook Bundle, so there may be a few viewing issues left to iron out. Regardless, paying what you want for six eBooks is a great deal, so if you’ve been on the lookout for new books to read, we highly suggest checking out the Humble eBook Bundle. There’s just over two weeks to go before the Humble eBook Bundle says “sayonara,” so get those orders in!

Bookeen is making it clear that with this device they’ll be attacking the “independent” market as the only solution to do so “against Amazon or Kobo.” This device works with a 213 DPI resolution display and works with what Bookeen claims is 62% more pixels than “current e-readers” – though they do not specify which. This display has 758 x 1024 pixel across it, to be specific.

You’ve got a capacitive touch display up front working with that E-Ink and you’ll have twenty level of FrightLighting to adjust according to your needs. This device also has the ability to activate the FrontLight or de-activate it depending on if you’re in the dark, the light, or anywhere in-between. For reading documents, you’ve also got features here on this newest generation device that past generations simply were not capable of.

One of these options is PDF reflow – tap the button and your PDF’s text is re-adjusted without you needing to change the display in any way. You’ve got what Bookeen calls a High Speed Ink System as well for “action at a fast pace.” This device will be coming out in more than 40 countries, weighs in at 180 g/6.35 oz, and boasts both touch-screen management and mechanical buttons.

You’ll be able to pick this device up in Old Pink, Black, Red Vermillion, and several more case colors. It’ll also be joined in its release later this year by a Cybook Odyssey 2013 Edition – a new version of the company’s best-seller. Prices and further specifications will be revealed soon – stay tuned!

The photo above gives you a good idea at just how small the device is, and look at those two ladies having a good time together. We’re not sure what they’re reading exactly, but from the looks of it, the books must be good reads. It also doesn’t hurt knowing that the beagle is claimed to be the smallest ereader in the world.

Measuring in at only 5mm thick, the txtr beagle comes with a 5-inch e-ink display. It also only weighs 4.5 ounces and takes up only around six cubic inches. However, one of the biggest features that separates the beagle from its competitors is that there’s no chargers or cables necessary. The beagle fits two AAA batteries at the bottom that can power the device for a whole year. Users can access txtr’s Android reading app to browse and download ebooks and can also connect via Bluetooth to a smartphone in order to transfer ebooks to and from the device.

txtr says the device may sell for as low as €9.90 (roughly $13) in Europe, which is an unheard of price in this day and age. However, we’re not sure how the company will plan to price the device in the US. Availability hasn’t been announced yet, but it looks like the beagle will release in Europe, Asia, and the US.

This release is what Amazon is calling the “most advanced e-reader built” and lets the world know without hesitation that they’ve got technology that’ll back up their claim. In our full review, you’ll find that Cory Gunther had a fabulous time taking a peek at how this device functioned. In addition to this device having a free 3G connection at all times in 100 different countries around the world, it’s got advanced display technology that brings your reading experience up to a new level.

“Essentially what we have here is a front — or side-lit display — instead of a backlit screen that will strain your eyes after an extended period of time. What makes the new Paperwhite that much better than the Touch is not just the built-in light on the screen, but the 6-inch display has 62% more pixels (221PPI) with a 1024 x 768 resolution too. The screen looks better, text is crisp, vivid, and easy to read, and of course the light makes the reading experience top notch.” – Cory Gunther

This device will work with Amazon Prime for 210,000 books right out of the Lending Library, and of course the full Amazon e-book library is open to anyone who purchases the device – buy em up! This device also comes in a wi-fi-only iteration for a slightly smaller cost. The wi-fi version of this tablet will cost you $119 USD while the 3G version will run you $179. Expect these devices in stores this week – and again, if you’ve pre-ordered a Kindle Paperwhite, it’s time to start waiting by the mailbox!

In fact, the bookseller would rather you look at exactly what you get for your money – and what you don’t get. The NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight, for instance, includes an AC adapter, whereas Amazon only includes a microUSB cable for recharging the Kindle Paperwhite; adding the official Amazon adapter is $9.99 more, though of course the Kindle should work with most generic USB chargers.

Meanwhile, B&N’s ereader doesn’t have any sponsored adverts, unlike the $119 Kindle. Amazon offers the option to do away with ads, but that will cost you another $20. Whether they frustrate you – the promoted content shows up on the lock screen, but not within ebooks themselves – depends on how willing you are to give up space in your home for commercials.

Of course, those upgrading from an existing Kindle or NOOK probably already know which model they want: they’ve likely bought into an ecosystem of ebooks already. Books purchased on Amazon’s store won’t work on B&N’s ereader hardware, and vice-versa. You can find our review of the Kindle Paperwhite here.

Earlier this month along with the Kindle Fire HD tablets Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos took to the stage and announced this new and improved 6-inch Kindle reader. Being the first of its kind (from Amazon at least) we’re giving it a thorough look. With an improved experience, better hardware, and of course a front-lit screen this is worth a second glance.

Hardware

The Paperwhite display aside, not much has changed from the previous Kindle Touch in terms of overall hardware. The design is for the most part unchanged and it still is an impressively light device being just 7.5 oz and only 9mm thin. The hardware has improved with a slightly smaller bezel, a nice matte black casing, and of course the dedicated buttons have all been removed. This can be a good thing, or bad thing depending on the user, but the on-screen controls with the improved capacitive touch display certainly is easy to use.

Under the hood we still have 2GB of internal storage (1GB usable) and sadly we don’t get an micro-SD slot for expanded storage, but you’ll be storing everything in the cloud with Amazon anyways. Then of course we have a dedicated power button, LED notification light, and micro-USB for the odd occasion you need to charge the eReader. Last but certainly not least is the 3G and WiFi connectivity. WiFi models start at $119, while the 3G model that works worldwide thanks to AT&T will run you $179. Oh and lets not forget those “Special Offers” and sponsored screensavers.

Personally, we are big fans of the changes to the hardware. The home button wasn’t exactly needed with such a simple user interface, and the improved soft-touch black matte backing certainly is nice. Although the concave back on the NOOK is still something we favor. Overall impressions on the hardware are excellent. Build quality feels top notch, and screen durability seems improved over its predecessor too. Take a peek at our hands-on and software overview video below.

Paperwhite

Now the big thing here is obviously the “Paperwhite” display. The best way to explain this would be from Amazon themselves in this post. Essentially what we have here is a front — or side-lit display — instead of a backlit screen that will strain your eyes after an extended period of time. What makes the new Paperwhite that much better than the Touch is not just the built-in light on the screen, but the 6-inch display has 62% more pixels (221PPI) with a 1024 x 768 resolution too. The screen looks better, text is crisp, vivid, and easy to read, and of course the light makes the reading experience top notch.

The Paperwhite uses Amazon’s new patented light guide technology that actually guides the light across the screen and down, away from the eyes. Using only 4 LED’s you’ll get awesome options with lighting without suffering in the battery life department — but more on that later. The display isn’t all about the light either. The Paperwhite screen is 25% better in terms of contrast for sharper and dark text. Add the better contrast to a crisp screen, then toss in the Paperwhite lighting technology this reader is excellent during daily use as always, but also great in low-light conditions as you can clearly see below.

In use, it’s certainly better that using an actual tablet for extended reading periods, and since this is still e-ink you won’t be lighting up the entire room if you’re reading in bed. This is the best for both worlds if you ask us. As you saw in our video above, adjusting the “Paperwhite” lighting is as simply as sliding your finger. Tap the top of the screen for the toolbar drop-down, then just tap the light-bulb to adjust as needed. For those worried about this new light and capacitive touch technology to hinder the reading experience, it’s safe to say that isn’t the case. Reading is simply awesome and we’ve loved our limited time with the new Paperwhite — and you will too.

Software

There really isn’t much to talk about regarding software, since the user interface is so basic. Everything you’ve grown to love about the Kindle line is in-tact — and they’ve even added a few awesome additions to make things even better. We have time to read, x-ray, and tools for readers all available with ease. X-Ray lets you instantly find any and all details of any character, place, or moment in a book. Amazon explains this as letting you explore the “bones of the book” with a detailed breakdown, and so far we love it. Seeing and jumping to exact points in a 400 page read with ease is an awesome new feature for those diehards.

Time to read is another great new improvement. It’s nothing special but just adds that extra level of polish to the experience. This tool helps readers know the amount of time it will take them to finish the chapter, or the entire book. It personalizes the time based on each person’s speed, and constantly updates as their reading habits change. While interruptions change the output, this has generally been quite accurate for us. Last but certainly not least is the built-in dictionary. Just long press any word while reading for a detailed definition. We also have instant translations by simply highlighting a section for easy translation.

Being E-Ink the software is still only as fast as the hardware and the refresh times, which while improved — still take time out of usage. Nothing worth docking points for, as Amazon’s always had some of the better refresh rates on their Kindle readers. The seamless sync of books across multiple devices, and all the new features added makes this the best Kindle reading experience yet.

Battery

Battery, which we stated above we’d talk more about — can’t really be talked about too much. Amazon estimates 8 weeks of battery life. Yes, that was 8 weeks. Even with the new light and built-in 3G you’ll still rarely need to charge the Whitepaper. Amazon states the 8 week claim is with limited 1 hour of daily reading and wireless being turned off — but either way that is still extremely impressive. Offering nearly the same battery life as before while delivering a lit display and tons of new features makes us plenty happy.

Leave WiFi or 3G enabled and this battery life drops down to about 5 weeks — which is still impressive and beats the Nook Glowlight across the board. So far I’ve read a little daily for the past week and a half and haven’t seen the battery meter drop one bit — so take it as you will.

Wrap-Up

Overall what’s not to like here? You get an improved experience across the board with a better, crisper, clearer display, the option to read in any lighting situation, and all of this for only $119. While they’ve dropped the original Touch down to $79, we feel the $40 premium for the Paperwhite is crucial and an excellent choice. Sadly those “special offers” or ads as we call them will be noticeable every time you open this book. You can opt out by spending $139 instead of $119 for the WiFi model, and the same increase is present for the 3G $179 model.

There’s no doubt that the Paperwhite feature works, and works great. For those that want the best possible reading experience across the board the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is certainly worth your dollar, and it’s available now at Amazon — shipping tomorrow. However the Kindle Fire HD is a great alternative for those seeking to do a little more with their tablet for a slight increase in price. Obviously if reading will be nearly the only function the Paperwhite is the clear (and bright) choice in our book.

The light you’ve got here around the rim of the display is captured and reflected across the face of the area you’re looking at. This area is called the Light Guide – it’s nanoimprinted and acts like a fiber-optic cable, blasting light through itself and down towards the capacitive touch screen instead of up at your eye. The best LEDs the group could find for the job were chosen, the construction of the Light Guide was adjusted from tight to loose so that one light source could be used in an even manner, and the whole device was tweaked to perfection over the course of 8 years.

The 8 years timeframe has been mentioned several times, including by CEO Jeff Bezos, this being the amount of time that the company has researched and developed the Paperwhite technology. This reader is getting ready to hit the market early next month, our Kindle Paperwhite hands-on prepping you for the big drop coming up quick. This device takes what you know about e-ink and the ease in reading you’ve experienced in Kindle devices in the past and bumps the quality to a new generation.

This new technology works to keep your battery life long, the entire product is extremely light, and the whole product is taking on the e-reading universe in a completely different way than the Kindle Fire HD. Stay tuned for the final device review we’ll have right here on SlashGear before you know it! Have a peek at the timeline below for more information on the Kindle Paperwhite and get pumped for the final release in just weeks!