Those tablets offer 8 GB of storage at the $149 price tag for the normal HD and 16 GB for $179 for the HD+. A 16 GB version of the Nook HD is also available for $179 and 32 GB version of the HD+ will be offered for $209. The special prices will be available directly from Barnes & Noble and other leading retailers who sell the company’s products.

These price cuts come right after Barnes & Noble announced last Friday that it was offering full access to the Google Play store via both of these tablets. That means mom will be able to read all the books she likes, and will be able to download apps, stream video, and more all from the tablet.

Something else we’re wondering about the special deals, which came right on the heels of Barnes & Noble slashing prices on some of its Nook devices in the UK, is if Barnes & Noble might be dumping stock. We can’t help but wonder if maybe new versions of these devices are coming soon. That’s definitely scuttlebutt at this point and it’s worth noting that Barnes & Noble has been having a difficult time competing on the market.

[via Nook.com]

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.

Furthermore, the app will come pre-loaded for new NOOK devices starting today. However, it seems that the app will only work on the NOOK HD, NOOK HD+, NOOK Tablet, and the NOOK Color. For those who already have a NOOK device, you can download the Pinterest app right now, allowing you to resume pinning from on-the-go in no time.

Pinterest joins Facebook and Twitter as one of the handful of apps pre-loaded on NOOK devices. Claudia Romanini, who is the vice president of NOOK apps at Barnes & Noble, says that Pinterest has “long been one of” the company’s most requested apps, so we’re positive that most NOOK users will benefit greatly from the addition of Pinterest.

Barnes & Noble has been trying to get the NOOK series back on track recently, and the company is working slowly to accomplish that. They recently launched the NOOK Press self-publishing platform, as well as the ability for in-app purchases in order to reel in more bacon. The addition of Pinterest might not make great strides with the company, but it could put them in right direction.

The new NOOK Press includes updated content-creation and management tools that builds on the company’s old PubIt! platform. NOOK Press gives independent authors the opportunity to sell their work in Barnes & Noble’s ecosystem by giving them the necessary tools and allowing them to sell ebooks anywhere from $0.99 to $199, in which the company takes a 35% cut on books priced up to $9.99, and 60% for anything above that.

The books show up for sale on the NOOK Book Store in both the US and UK, as well as on Barnes & Noble’s website. The cut that the company takes may seem a little steep, but it’s right up there with Amazon’s 30% and 65% cut that they take from authors with their Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Plus, Apple takes the same 30% cut Apple from iBooks Author.

NOOK Press is only available in the US as of now, and aspiring authors have to be approved by Barnes & Noble before they can start writing and selling books through NOOK Press. However, we’re guessing that UK support will come soon enough. As for whether or not NOOK Press can take away some of Amazon’s self-publishing market share, we’ll ultimately have to wait and see.

Barnes & Noble isn’t giving a specific time frame for when in-app purchasing will be available. The closest the company comes offering a timeframe is stating “in the coming weeks and months.” Barnes & Noble says that thousands of the most requested games and apps will feature in-app purchasing for customers using the Nook line of tablets, including the popular Nook HD and HD+ tablets.

Barnes & Noble says that in app purchasing will offer customers greater access to popular games and free apps on the company’s line of tablets. Users will be able to buy extra levels, coins, and other upgrades to make their app experience more enjoyable. The potential downside for some people who use the Nook devices is that offering in-game purchases means more apps will move to that payment model.

Barnes & Noble says that customers will need to register for in-app purchasing. The company also points out that consumers will need to enter credit card numbers before each payment, it will simply be able to click a Pay button and the transaction will be completed in seconds.

[via Barnes & Noble]

The expanded Free Fridays program now includes apps. The Nook Free Fridays app offering began last week with users getting a free copy of Office Suite Professional 7 from MobiSystems. That particular app is worth $14.99. The service still offers free books each Friday.

To find out what content is going to be offered for free each Friday customers can visit the Nook Facebook page or blog. That content can be downloaded directly to the Nook HD, HD+, Tablet, and Color digital readers. Sadly, if you didn’t hear about this last week it appears that you’ve missed the free app.

At least you be ready next week and download the free app if it’s a good one. Those that were able to download the Office Suite Personal 7 app last week received an application allowing them to create, view, edit, and print Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files and attachments as well as view PDFs on their Nook readers.

[via Nook]

While the NOOK devices and its services are available in multiple countries, it seems that today’s announcement of new partnerships are exclusive to the US, and financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Other partners announced today include Relativity Media, Little Pim, and Film Buff. Of course, this is another step for Barnes & Noble to compete with Amazon’s Instant Video service and Apple’s iTunes video sector.

Of course, this move is a way for Barnes & Noble to bolster up its NOOK business. While the company is uncertain as to the future of NOOK, it seems they’re wanting to change some things around, and today’s partnerships with several big studios may point the NOOK business in the right direction, but we’ll have to wait and see.

As part of the deal, NOOK users will have access to a handful of new movies and TV shows, including The Hunger Games, the Twilight series, Skyfall, Rocky, Fargo, Flight, Paranormal Activity 4, Act of Valor, Safe Haven, House at the End of the Street, Mad Men, Border Wars, and Amazing Planet. The deal made with Little Pim will consist of foreign language learning for children.

As for revenue, Barnes & Noble made $2.2 billion during the quarter, which is down 8.8% year-over-year. As for NOOK sales, that division probably got hit the hardest, where revenue was down 26% compared to the same time last year, but as for digital content sales, the company saw a slight jump by 6.8%.

Of course, Barnes & Noble was expecting to take a big hit, so they’re about as surprised as we were (read: not surprised at all). NOOK made $316 million this past quarter, while the same time last year, it made $426.6 million. Overall, the company saw losses across the board, including their retail business, which saw a 10.3% decrease from last year.

However, it seems that the company may actually be changing things up a bit. Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio is pondering the idea of buying the company back from shareholders, and shaking things up with the NOOK business — mostly throwing out the entire playbook and starting from scratch, but we’ll have to see what direction the company takes this year. It could be an interesting ride for B&N execs.

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.

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.

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.

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?

NBCUniversal, STARZ, and Warner Bros. Entertainment have also got content in the new store, and B&N will offer both streaming and direct-to-device downloads as playback options, depending on your connectivity and preference. Other studio deals are in the pipeline, B&N claims.

NOOK Video is also the first digital provider to support UltraViolet in the UK. Intended to deliver the best of both physical and digital media, UltraViolet makes digital copies of movies available to buyers of select DVD and Blu-ray content.

The NOOK HD and HD+ went on sale in the UK in late November, priced from £159 for the 7-inch HD and from £229 for the 9-inch HD+. NOOK Video is already available for NOOK HD/HD+ users in the US.

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.

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.

Starting today, you’ll be able to get your comic fix through the official stores of your respective devices. DC also reported that for the year to date, its digital comic sales are up 197% year-over-year. Hank Kanalz, DC’s senior vice president of digital, says that the addition of more digital content won’t detract attention from physical comic book stores, but will expand the audience instead.

Previously, DC Comics sold its content through apps from Comixology including its own DC Comics app in Google Play and iTunes. However, those were the only two places that users could buy DC-owned comics. Now, users can go through the official bookstores on various devices without having to download additional apps in order to buy comic books.

Today will see 70 titles available in iBooks, the Kindle store, and the NOOK store, including the week’s New 52 superhero books, several Vertigo issues, select “digital-first” titles that publish online before print, as well as some back issues. A combination of same-day new titles and backlist titles will be added in the coming months.

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.

This new conglomeration begins with a $300 million dollar investment from Microsoft directly into NOOK Media LLC. They’ve announced – or re-announced, for some – the NOOK reading application for Windows 8, and Barnes & Noble’s CEO William Lynch has made it clear that they’re ready to bring their reading experience to “millions of Windows 8 users.”

Microsoft President Andy Lees noted that they’d be bringing “one of the world’s largest digital libraries” to Windows 8 devices galore with a new Windows 8 app. It would appear that Microsoft was impressed by Barnes & Noble’s recent launches in the UK and hopes to continue to work with them as they spread across the planet.

This investment, once approved, would make Microsoft’s $300 million investment in NOOK Media LLC a $1.7 billion post-money valuation in exchange for a stake in the company. With Barnes & Noble owning the remaining shares, Microsoft would control a 17.6% equity stake in the company. This deal has not yet been approved and requires review before any final decisions are made.

NOTE also that this is the continuation of a deal announced earlier this year when the original $300 million amount was first revealed.

After announcing its new 4G LTE service last month, EE made headlines a few times today. First, the company put a handful of 4G LTE capable devices up for sale, then brushed aside negative comments from its LTE rivals, and finally, we got to take the iPhone 5 through an EE 4G LTE speed test. One analyst is saying that the problems with Apple Maps aren’t having an effect on iPhone 5 demand, while we learned that most of Microsoft’s temporary retail stores will be opening on October 26. We heard today that Samsung Galaxy S III sales took a jump around the time the verdict in its case against Apple was delivered, as well as when the iPhone 5 was announced, which is interesting to say the least.

The BBC is working on its own music streaming player, and Barnes and Noble has updated its NOOK apps for iOS and Android. AT&T and Time Warner are saying they want the same Kansas City benefits Google received when it launched its fiber network there, while Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was spotted telling both Apple and Android fans to calm down. Microsoft is rumored to be working on a Windows Phone 8 device of its own, and in the wake of the HTC One X+ announcement, we compare HTC’s new flagship side-by-side with the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Lenovo announced today that it will soon be building a plant here in the US, while we got a funny story about Steve Jobs and the opening of new Apple stores today as well. HTC said that the One X and One S will both be getting Jelly Bean updates later this month, while Valve announced that not only has the Left 4 Dead franchise reached 12 million sales, but also that non-game software is now available to purchase from Steam. Finally tonight, Chris Burns has a new interview Genndy Tartakovsky, who directed shows such as the Samurai Jack and Dexter’s Laboratory, while Chris Davies examines if HTC is about to make a big comeback. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night folks!

That’s because with this update, Barnes and Noble has given Android users the ability to zoom in on a single frame when reading a comic or a graphic novel. This new feature, dubbed “Zoom View,” is only available on phones with a HVGA+ screen that are running Android 2.2 or later. Other new features in this update include the addition of a full dictionary, improved font and margin sizes, and a few enhancements to the way Barnes and Noble delivers pre-ordered content. Other than all of that, we’ve got the expected general bug fixes, with Barnes and Noble instructing users to sync their library before updating to version 3.2.

Looking at the iOS side of things, we again have the addition of a full dictionary, and those using an iPhone or an iPad can now use the app to view PDF files and PagePerfect NOOK Book content. Users can also access sideloaded PDF and EPUB files after installing update 3.2, and Barnes and Noble says that it has made a number of “other quality enhancements,” though doesn’t really delve into specifics.

There you have it, folks – just like that, your reading experience should be at least a little bit better if you’re using the NOOK reader app on your mobile device. As stated above, the updates are now live on the Google Play Store [download link] and the iOS App Store [download link]. Go and get ‘em, and be sure to check out our story timeline below for more posts on NOOK!

Of course, one of the biggest differences between the Paperwhite and the Nook GlowLight is that the Paperwhite will show you “special offers,” which is just fancy PR talk for “advertisements.” In order to banish the advertisements from your Paperwhite, you’ll have to pay a fee. The Nook GlowLight doesn’t show any advertisements, and now that Barnes and Noble has brought the price down to match that of the Paperwhite, it might be able to steal some sales away from Amazon.

This doesn’t look like a limited time promotion either – Target’s ad says that the Nook GlowLight’s price has been cut, rather than saying that it’s merely on sale or that this is a special offer. It’s worth pointing out, however, that Barnes and Noble’s own listing for the Nook GlowLight still shows a $139 price tag (as does Target’s online listing – only the in-store ad shows a price of $119), so it’s possible that Walmart and Target are just bringing their prices down to move some units quickly before the Paperwhite arrives. One thing is certain, however: if you’ve been waiting to pick up a Nook GlowLight, now is the time to buy.

That’s especially true when you consider that Amazon won’t be shipping new Paperwhite orders until near the end of October. Demand is apparently so high that Amazon had to push the ship date for new orders back to October 22, but whether that’s because of sheer popularity or a component shortage is unknown. Whatever the reason, this shipping delay should allow Barnes and Noble to net a few extra Nook GlowLight sales now that the eReader is sporting a lower price tag at some retailers.

[via CNET]

Barnes & Noble’s first big surprise was the hardware package it had put together. Both new NOOK tablets are lighter than the competition, comfortable to hold, and well priced; the NOOK HD may look heavy on the bezel, but it makes it easier to grip like a paperback book, while the NOOK HD+ is half the price of the new iPad but still manages to feel roughly as solid as Apple’s slate.

The screen quality is what really catches your attention, though, with both the 1440 x 900 of the HD and the 1920 x 1280 of the HD+ looking not only crisp and sharp, but having great viewing angles and – thanks to the optically-laminated glass – graphics that seem to float just beneath your fingertip. If the Nexus 7 feels like it has made some quality compromises to hit Google’s price target, B&N has somehow managed to achieve its own competitive pricing without your fingers feeling it.

As for the software, that’s the second strong punch. It’s reskinned Android, something Google and the Android faithful might object to, but which makes sense for a media tablet like the NOOK and the sort of audience that B&N is aiming for. Sensibly it’s not bells & whistles for the sake of UI differentiation, but instead a number of modifications some of which Google could do worse than to borrow for core Android.

So, there’s multi-user profiles, because B&N’s customers didn’t want to buy a new NOOK for everyone in the house, but still wanted to allow everyone to use the tablet pretty much as they see fit. You obviously get access to the retailer’s curated app, movie, TV show, and ebook stores, but you can also lock them down – just as you can the browser, email, or any other apps – so that you can leave the HD and HD+ in the hands of your offspring without worrying about them accessing something they shouldn’t be seeing, or indeed charging dozens of downloads to your card. But, there’s also cross-profile sharing of purchased content, so that mom and dad can each read Fifty Shades of Grey without having to buy their own copy.

Although Amazon’s sales success – and the likely success of the NOOK HD and HD+ – may seem unusual at first glance, they’re arguably just evidence that few other Android tablet manufacturers have quite grasped what Apple did so well with the iPad. Like the iPod worked as a conduit for music sales, and the iPhone opened up the mobile app market, so the iPad put multimedia and software purchases in your face. Selling people a single piece of hardware is a way to make money once, but regularly selling them content to enjoy on it is a revenue stream that keeps on giving.

Even Google’s Nexus 7, blessed with a competitive price, seemed to be getting the message on the value of content. Rather than apps like the browser and Gmail, the Google Play media downloads were put front-and-center by default on the Nexus 7′s homescreen: big widgets leading into movie, music, and ebook downloads.

Google and ASUS may not quite be treating the 7-inch tablet as a loss-leader, but they’re under no illusion about where the ongoing revenue stream comes from. Even the bundled free credit of $25 toward Play purchases was only added to accounts which register a credit card, Google’s way of encouraging paid downloads rather than free app grabs.

Barnes & Noble’s initial success will depend largely on how well stocked it can make its electronic stores. If users can’t find the content they want, they’ll look elsewhere. However, it also needs to adequately leverage its physical stores, still a differentiator from rivals like Amazon. Ironically, given B&N is best known for selling books, that didn’t work so well with ebooks, but the company could do more with DVDs and Blu-ray if it can play up the UltraViolet angle.

Buy a physical copy of a movie with the UltraViolet logo (or, indeed, whip one off the shelf of your collection at home) and you can instantly unlock a digital version through the NOOK Video store. So far UltraViolet has failed to gain any noticeable traction, but a tightly-integrated brick & mortar retailer/digital device duo could tip that in Barnes & Noble’s favor.

The NOOK HD and HD+ still have a battle ahead of them. The iPad has captured mindshare among those who don’t really care about the technology side, and for whom “iPad” and “tablet” are fast becoming interchangeable, while Amazon has a wealth of digital content for the Kindle Fire HD. Competitive pricing and eye-catching hardware is a good place to start, however, and the NOOK HD and HD+ already do enough to eclipse much of the Android tablet line-up for the mass market.

What we’ve got here, according to Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating speaking with Business Week, is “a complete library from all the leading studios.” With the introduction to this initiative showing off next to no final details as far as pricing goes, investors have been left in the dark. Amazon Prime Instant Videos makes the Kindle Fire a beast to be reckoned with, and every single Android tablet and the Apple iPad are able to work with Netflix – that’s a monster of a market to deal with.

The Nook Video service will be launching this Fall along with the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+. Take a peek at our hands-on with that duo of next-generation content-filled tablets right this minute. Then hear this: Nook Video will also be launching in the UK by the winter holidays. This means a global launch may not be that far behind. What we’ve got on our hands here is a real effort by the book-smiths to enter the video content market with the tablet, which came first.

In this way, Barnes & Noble are aiming to becomes another content and hardware company in an already multi-armed market that includes the Kindle Fire and the iPad as well as Google’s own Google Play media market. Will Barnes & Noble be able to keep up the way they’ve done with the ebook industry? We shall see!

While the tablet market is ever-expanding, Barnes & Noble has three main competitors: Amazon’s Kindle Fire line-up, recently updated; Google’s low-cost Nexus 7; and Apple’s new iPad. At first glance, however, the two new NOOKs shape up to be worthy alternatives in many ways.

NOOK HD

The smaller of the two new models, the NOOK HD offers the highest resolution display of a 7-inch tablet on the market: 1440 x 900, for 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; that makes it more comfortable to grip with one hand. B&N has reused the soft-touch plastic coating of the NOOK Simple Touch - here in either “snow” white or “smoke” grey – for an easier to hold design, complete with a contoured back panel.

Inside, there’s a 1.3GHz dualcore OMAP 4470 processor paired with 1GB of RAM and either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage; a microSD card can be used to expand that, and there’s Full HD video output, albeit requiring a special dongle. B&N says the NOOK HD managed 60fps in GL Benchmarks – double what the Kindle Fire HD achieved – and its higher-resolution display uses optical lamination for improved graphics.

It’s certainly an admirable screen, with incredibly broad viewing angles: we were able to get entirely side-on to the slate and still see no color inversion. Side-by-side with a Nexus 7 – a device the screen of which we’ve praised before – and the difference in clarity and color saturation was clear, the NOOK HD coming out ahead of its ASUS-made rival. Google’s pure Android tablet has a front-facing webcam, something the NOOK HD omits, but you do get expandable storage in the B&N slate, along with SRS sound.

Connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth, and there’s a 4050 mAh battery good, B&N claims, for up to 10.5hrs of reading or 9hrs of video playback (with WiFi turned off). As for pricing, that’s competitive too. B&N will be asking $199 for the 8GB NOOK HD and $229 for the 16GB version (£159 and £189 respectively in the UK)

NOOK HD+

The NOOK HD+ steps up a level, delivering a 1920 x 1280 IPS LCD touchscreen that, at 256ppi, comes within spitting distance of the 264ppi new iPad Retina Display. It shares the same processor as the NOOK HD, though running slightly faster at 1.5GHz, along with 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of storage (with a microSD card to augment it). There’s also WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, stereo speakers with SRS sound, and Full HD video output via an HDMI adapter dongle.

Visually, the HD+’s ID is familiar, with the punched circular hole in the bottom left corner reminiscent of previous NOOK slates. Only one color option will be offered, with the HD+ measuring 240.4 x 162.8 x 11.5 mm and weighing 515g. Its 6,000 mAh battery is good for up to 10hrs of reading or 9hrs of video – with WiFi turned off – B&N says.

In the hand, it’s noticeably lighter than the new iPad when the two are compared side-by-side, and the soft-touch plastic is grippy and tactile. The optically-laminated display is beautifully bright and detailed, with icons and graphics looking crisp and text – even at minimal levels of zoom – clear and easy to read. B&N has been working with digital magazine publishers to source higher-quality files for the NOOK Store, so that magazines on the HD and HD+ are both delivered in high-definition, and the payoff is more detailed content.

It’s not the only software tweaking B&N has been doing. There’s now profile support, with the ability to set up different accounts for up to five users on the same tablet. The lockscreen shows all five – you can choose whether to password protect each account or not – and you can quickly switch between profiles from the drop-down in the top left corner.

Each profile can have certain features disabled or enabled, so that for instance you can prevent children from browsing the web or accessing the email app (which supports up to six accounts, including Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync); the NOOK Store can be password protected, and child profiles automatically log into the version filled only with age-appropriate content. Purchased content can be shared between multiple profiles, so that two users can read the same ebook, for instance.

Both new models will have access to the NOOK cloud service for storing ebooks and other content, along with the new NOOK Video store announced yesterday. There will be curated channels of content, too: if, say, you like romance novels, there’ll be a channel of hand-picked ebooks by B&N’s head bookseller together with, eventually, suitable apps for download. During setup, the NOOK HD and HD+ will ask each new owner what categories interest them, loading a few sample pieces to the homescreen so as to make the slates usable out of the box.

The cloud will also be used for storing clippings. Slide your finger down the left edge of the display and the current screen is “torn off” for clipping, with support for filing each snatched page into a different folder. Copies are saved locally and to the cloud, for accessing on all other NOOK hardware and apps, and there’s annotation and highlighting support too. B&N has squeezed in a microphone as well, allowing parents to record a narration of their child’s favorite ebook for subsequent playback.

We asked B&N about how open to hacking the new NOOK tablets it might be, given the popularity of the original NOOK Color among Android modders. The answer was somewhat evasive – B&N doesn’t see that making up a significant share of the market, and in their untampered form you can’t even sideload apps – with no confirmation on what sort of lock-down each NOOK might be subjected to.

Nonetheless, for the mass market the pair make a strong first impression. The 9-inch NOOK HD+ is half the price of the new iPad, and each version has a superb display which looks great both in reading books and playing video. Given the likelihood of a single tablet being shared among multiple family users, the profile support is great – and something which has long been requested for rival tablets.

The B&N NOOK HD and HD+ will go up for preorder in October and should begin shipping in mid-November, as well as appearing on store shelves in time for the holidays. There’ll also be a variety of accessories, including cases with Smart Cover-style active front covers that wake the NOOK HD and HD+ when opened up.

Both models use a 6-inch epaper display with a zero-pressure touchscreen, and rely on WiFi for connectivity to the NOOK Store. Inside there’s 1GB of storage – good for up to 1,000 books – with a microSD card slot tucked under a cover for adding to that.

The GlowLight version, meanwhile, has an optional illumination system that can gently light up the screen for easier reading in bed. The level of lighting can be adjusted, and B&N says that users will still see a month of battery life (with WiFi turned off) even if the GlowLight is active continuously. Without the backlighting, and with WiFi deactivated, both models will run for up to two months.

The two ereaders are up for preorder in the UK now, and as well as each hitting shelves in time for Christmas, B&N says its free NOOK apps for iOS and Android will arrive in the UK in the autumn. UK stores John Lewis, Argos, Sainsbury’s, Dixons, Waitrose, Blackwell’s, and Foyles will be stocking each model.

There’s more on the NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight in our full review.

B&N will also launch NOOK Video apps – there’s no word on platform support, but a safe guess would be iOS and Android given the bookseller already offers ereading apps for those – which will support streaming content. There’ll be seamless resume too, allowing users to pause playback on one device and then pick up from the same place on another linked to the same account.

Those users with existing DVD and Blu-ray content will – as long as it falls under the UltraViolet umbrella – be able to access digital copies of those movies and TV shows through their NOOK device or the NOOK apps, without having to purchase a separate digital version. Both standard- and high-definition titles will be on offer.

HBO, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, STARZ, Viacom, Warner Bros., and Walt Disney Studios are all onboard with content for NOOK Video, though pricing for individual titles is yet to be confirmed. More partners are on the way, B&N says.

This move will have the UK being the first location outside of the USA where Nook e-reader devices have been sold. With Barnes & Noble making it clear that their last financial year brought in $933 million for the Nook lineup alone, it’s no wonder they’re expanding out beyond the shores of the United States. The Amazon Kindle lineup is already sold throughout the UK, and this book retailer is gnawing at the bit at a chance to join in on the fun.

Be sure to check out our Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight review to see what you’ll be grabbing very soon!

The Nook Simple Touch as it exists today is a tablet device with a 6-inch display working with e-ink technology for easy reading both indoors and out. This device is currently out only in the USA and also has 2GB of flash memory, build-in wi-fi connectivity, and 2GB of RAM. You also get a microSD card slot for memory expansion and easy movement of files to and from other devices.

We’re expecting this device to be released in essentially the same price range as the original and will be working with nook.co.uk as well for digital content. You’ll be able to both download new reading material from the web and load 3rd party content with the microSD card slot once this device heads your way soon!

The Nook Tablet is now available for $179 with the Nook Color going for $149. The Nook Tablet with 8 GB of storage is available for $179 with the 16 GB version going for $199. The Tablet offers access to more than 2.5 million digital book titles in addition to popular movies, TV shows, music, and more. The tablet has a seven-inch screen designed for reading books, magazines, and other content.

When the Nook Tablet launched back in February, the 8 GB version was $199. A $20 price cut could push consumers to buy the Nook Tablet rather than competing products such as the Kindle Fire and other cheap, under $200 Android tablets on the market today. Barnes & Noble last cut the price of the Nook Color in February when it moved to $169.

Other than price cuts, the hardware inside the Nook Tablet and Nook Color remain the same. The 8 GB version of the tablet has 512 MB RAM. Rumors continue to circulate that Apple is working on a smaller version of the iPad dubbed iPad mini. The launch of a cheaper and smaller iPad could have a significant impact on the budget tablet market, forcing prices even lower.

skobbler’s ForeverMap 2 app will be available in the Nook app stores starting from today, allowing owners of the Nook Color and Nook Tablet to navigate and search maps natively. The basic version of the app is free, while a paid version offering downloadable maps will cost $4.99.

There is one major drawback, of course: the Nook range doesn’t have GPS capabilities, so the tablets will have to rely solely on WiFi for a best estimate of the current location. Still, Barnes & Noble has indicated that it will be opening up an API that will allow developers to make use of location-based data for their apps later on in the year.

Nook sales have been slumping as of late, with Barnes & Noble reporting that hardware sales were down 10% on last year in its most recent quarterly financial results. Sales may continue to slide now that the Nexus 7 has arrived on the scene, with Google’s pure Android experience enticing buyers for just $199. Barnes & Noble’s current Nook Tablet commands the same price, but is tied up in a custom version of Android 2.3 designed to promote Barnes & Noble’s content. Still, the company is looking to the future, with a recent report indicating that the company is working on a “revolutionary” new screen.

[via PaidContent]

The technology has reportedly been developed in house with the aid of “another company.” Not only that, but it will be the first time the screen technology has made its debut in any product. Other details of the new tablet are minimal, with CNET’s source saying that the tablet will be lighter but continue to run a skinned version of Android.

As to what the screen technology could be, The Digital Reader has tried to break down the various possibilities. Pixel Qi has been working on a screen that matches the Retina resolution on the new iPad while consuming less power, but it hasn’t entered production yet. Mirasol is another option, which would add color to ereaders, but the factory that would produce the technology still needs to be built.

It’s possible that Barnes & Noble’s source is simply hyping up the technology and that it’s a relatively small step. Still, we won’t know until the next Nook tablet is released. Reports indicate that it’s due sometime in September or October, with a lower price point to match more affordable tablets that have cropped up at the $200 bracket.

For the full year, NOOK saw revenues of $993 for the digital business overall: including the ereader hardware itself, any accessories for it, and digital content. Revenues in Q4 2012 were $164m. Overall segment sales increased 1-percent in Q4, thanks to stronger performance of content, and increased 45-percent for the full year.

Content sales rose 65-percent in the last quarter and by 119-percent for 2012, year-on-year, for a total of $483m. That consists of ebooks, digital newsstand content and apps sold through the NOOK App Store.

What can’t be avoided, though, is that sales of hardware are dwindling. “Device sales declined during the fourth quarter due to higher third-party channel partner returns, lower selling volume and lower average selling prices” Barnes & Noble explains. “In order to optimize the supply chain for new products, the company took back NOOK Simple Touch inventory following the previously announced holiday sales shortfall.”

B&N is pinning its hopes on strong sales of the NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight, which hit retail in Q1 2013. It “has quickly become the highest rated eReader in the market” the company says, though no specific sales results have been shared.

The first and second options here are the names Microsoft and Apple. We’ve long heard now that Target will be ramping up their involvement in Apple’s supply line with mini Apple Store inside Super Target locations in the pipeline. Could it be that Apple has put pressure on the company to stopper up the heat before it burns their future sales? Another option is Microsoft, whose recent investment in Barnes & Noble may have played a big part in this situation.

“Target continually evaluates its product assortment to deliver the best quality and prices for our guests. Target is phasing out Kindles and Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012. We will continue to offer our guests a full assortment of ereaders and supporting accessories including the Nook.” – Target

The statement above does indeed come straight from Target and includes a note at the end that they’ll continue, specifically, to carry the Nook. Microsoft has Windows running on the only computers Target currently offers for sale and is responsible for a whole lot of tech sitting in Target retail stores right this minute. It’s certainly possible they’ve had a talk with Target now that they’re on-board with NewCo, a newly formed company made by Barnes & Noble and Microsoft to support the Nook.

We’ll see how this all pans out soon, I’m sure. Have a peek at the rest of our Target news to see the full lo-down on the dealings inside and out of the Big Red Living Room.

Lynch says that NFC chips will start showing up “soon” in the Nook line of readers. Recently Barnes & Noble and Microsoft announced a partnership that will have Microsoft investing at least $605 million in a new subsidiary that includes Barnes & Noble’s Nook reader and its college textbook business. Lynch talked about the future the business with Forbes recently.

Fortune asked Lynch why the company chose Microsoft partner with. Lynch says that Barnes & Noble brings technology and the understanding of readers and reading while Microsoft offers up access to a huge number of screens. Lynch does point out that at this time Microsoft and Barnes & Noble are not talking about any new hardware collaboration for the Nook or other readers. However, on the software side, he says Microsoft is making interesting integrations with Windows and potentially office for Barnes & Noble tech.

[via Fortune]

Microsoft is being called by Lynch an “ideal partner” for areas like distribution and big software launches due to such upcoming heroes as Windows 8. Barnes & Noble Nook software will be on that operating system in the form of an app that’ll give users access to the company’s ebook library. Microsoft engineers and “Redmond-based talent” as Fortune says will not be working together on Nook devices.

“Currently, we’ve not communicated anything related to the roadmap about any hardware collaboration on Nook. Nook, as you know, uses open sourcing. Microsoft is obviously very entrenched in Windows. On the reading software side, in reading technologies, they’re making interesting integrations into Windows, potentially Office. That kind of work has already started. Definitively yes.” – Lynch

So we’ve got the ability to work back and forth between Office and Barnes & Noble software including Nook for ebooks. We do not have, on the other hand, non-Android operating system bits headed to the Nook.

“So again we haven’t announced anything specifically, but imagine an integration where an information worker, student, author, consumer, creates something in Office and has it immediately published for sale through the Nook book store. It starts to open a lot of exciting possibilities.” – Lynch

The Nook book store might be getting a whole lot more interesting in the weeks and months ahead – Nook as a content editor? Very possibly!

[via Fortune]

In a statement released this week on their new joint venture, Microsoft and Barnes & Noble noted how “one of the first benefits for customers will be a Nook application for Windows 8.” This will likely be just one element here in this larger equation, but it’s certainly a giant nugget where the rest is set to be subsidiary bonuses. It’s Apple that Microsoft is competing with here, not Android. Because of the fact that Apple has a strong content library on their site via iTunes, Microsoft must move forward with their own set of solutions (old and new) to get Windows 8 on board with vertical integration with downloadable content of all kinds.

Because of this, Barnes & Noble will hand the keys to their own book library to Microsoft and their Windows 8 PCs, tablets, notebooks, and hybrid devices. This Barnes & Noble integration will allow Microsoft to compete not only with Apple, but with Amazon as well. NewCo will continue to create Nook devices running Android and Microsoft will profit from cash earned on that hardware. A two-pronged approach is what Microsoft is after here, not just Windows 8 on Barnes & Noble hardware.

Have a peek at our timeline below for this joint venture and see for yourself where it’s headed!

It’s an easy mistake to make. Barnes & Noble is a book retailer – one of the old guard – which found a (perhaps surprising) degree of success with its NOOK ereader line. Its natural rival is Amazon, another book retailer (albeit one that has blossomed into so much more), and a new upstart at that; sneeringly confident with its Kindle and its rocketing dominance of the ebook scene.

So, Microsoft buys into ebooks; it’s natural to assume that Amazon is its target. Safe, but wrong. Amazon isn’t a natural competitor for Microsoft. We’re not going to see the Windows maker suddenly decide to start offering vacuum cleaners, and coffee machines, and Nike shoes. In fact the only thing Microsoft could learn from Amazon is its ecosystem, Kindle hardware supporting Kindle ebook sales with a heaping of lock-in thanks to a proprietary platform.

It has a better example of that already.

Apple is eating Microsoft’s lunch in mobile, and it’s stealing its allowance too to spend on computing treats. Windows Phone has grown too old to fit into the “bold new upstart” category and is now being eyed warily as the not-quite-convincing challenger that’s yet to prove it can fight in its weight category. Microsoft’s position in tablets is laughable; PC sales are, despite the best efforts of Intel and its ultrabook investments, sluggish. And all the time, across the aisle, Apple is selling Macs, iPhones and iPads as fast as it can make them.

What Apple has – and what Microsoft has finally woken up to – is an ecosystem. iTunes, the App Store, iCloud; they all pull together and make owning several pieces of Apple kit not only pleasant but justifiable. They simply work together better than a mismatched bag of piecemeal hardware. It’s no surprise that the average Apple household, researchers have found, owns not one but 2.4 of the company’s devices.

Microsoft has so far struggled to convince when it comes to ecosystem. Zune suffered for its lateness to the dedicated PMP market and then the subsequent lateness of Windows Phone to the converged smartphone market. Xbox LIVE has made tentative inroads across phones and PCs, but we’re yet to see the compelling cross-platform gaming that Microsoft promised us would make Windows Phone the only choice for Xbox 360 owners.

The big push comes with Windows 8, Microsoft’s opportunity to show us how its currently disparate elements of computing and mobile can finally play nicely together. Adding ebooks – both reading and, via likely integration with Office, creating – to that ecosystem is a no-brainer, just as Apple added the iBookstore to its iTunes and App Store line-up.

Will we see a NOOK tablet based on Windows RT? Quite probably, yes; it doesn’t take much to imagine Barnes & Noble pushing a larger ereader, sticking to the LCD touchscreen of the existing NOOK Tablet rather than e-paper, and running Microsoft’s finger-friendly OS on affordable ARM chipsets. Similarly, this is a digital partnership not just a hardware OEM deal to use Windows 8, so expect Metrofied NOOK apps for Windows Phone, Windows 8-based tablets and PCs, along with most likely SkyDrive integration for that all-important sync.

It also gives Microsoft a proposal to drape around a lower price point. Cheap Android tablets struggled to compete with the iPad because buyers came to them with broad expectations, dreams fueled by what Apple’s slate was promising. By reframing them as Android-based ereader-tablets, retailers like Barnes & Noble have rationalized those expectations: a solid ebook experience with garnish, if you like. That’s something Microsoft – and its other partners – can use to their advantage when it comes to making legitimate cases for $150-300 Windows RT models.

We won’t see all the hardware straight away. Windows 8 is fast approaching, after all, and it will take time for Microsoft and Barnes & Noble to get their product roadmap in motion. The new OS needs to launch with a NOOK tile sitting proudly front & center in Metro, however, and preferably one on Windows Phone at the same time. Microsoft has a chance to reignite its ecosystem strategy, but it’s coming late to the game again and it lacks the track-record to convince us success is inevitable.

With NOOK running ARM chipsets, the version of the OS in question is presumably Windows RT, formerly known as Windows-on-ARM. Microsoft has been working with OEMs on minimum requirements, Lees confirmed, but based on previous indications none of B&N’s current designs would come up to scratch.

Lees was previously the head of Microsoft’s Windows Phone division, but was shifted from his role in December 2011 in what was later rumored to be an unofficial benching because of the smartphone platform’s struggle to achieve marketshare. At the time, however, Microsoft insisted that Lees was being moved so as to lead a “time-critical opportunity.”

“I have asked Andy Lees to move to a new role working for me on a time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrote in a leaked internal memo. “We have tremendous potential with Windows Phone and Windows 8 and this move sets us up to really deliver against that potential.”

It now appears that Lees’ new role was bringing NOOK into the Windows family. Currently B&N’s ereaders run a heavily modified version of Android, but Microsoft has reportedly been looking into ereader hardware as another string in Windows 8′s bow.

Barnes & Noble is making the move in order to fend off competition in the ebook space, and to capitalize on the recent success with the Nook ereaders. Its deal with Microsoft will allow it to “significantly expand the business”, while reaching hundreds of millions of users thanks to the integration with Windows.

Part of the deal outlines how a Nook application will be developed and released for Windows 8, extending the digital bookstore to a very large international audience. Andy Lees, President at Microsoft, says that the “complementary assets will accelerate e-reading innovation across a broad range of Windows devices”, which potentially means integration across Windows 8 tablets, phones, and PCs going forward.

As for the legal spat between Barnes & Noble and Microsoft? The patent litigation has been settled, and Microsoft has licensed the necessary patents to Barnes & Noble (plus the new subsidiary) for the Nook ereaders and tablets.