Engadget has an exclusive report indicating that Barnes & Noble is phasing out the Nook 3G. The company is encouraging retail partners not to send bulk orders, noting that the supply is dwindling to the point where there will not be sufficient supplies to fill them. This is more than likely the first sign that a next-generation Nook is on its way, and will feature the clearer Pearl e-ink display found in the latest version of the Kindle.
On a related note, David Carnoy at CNet reports on a Barnes & Noble press release noting that more than 650,000 total subscriptions and single-copy sales of color e-periodicals have been sold, and crediting this with the Nook Color’s color presentatin of the magazines.
Another data point: Since Christmas Day Nook customers ordered 150% more subscriptions than the total number sold over the entire previous 12 months, the company says. Not surprisingly, Barnes & Noble points out that the strong sales of the Nook Color is at the root of the increase. (Like with Amazon’s Kindle, some publications are also available in a monochrome version for e-ink e-readers, but color magazines obviously lend themselves to being displayed on a color screen).
I heard from a friend the other day who had just gotten a Nook Color and jailbroken it, and said that as a result it made the best Android tablet he’d yet had. Apart from jailbreaking it for Android, it is also possible to install Ubuntu on it. Both of these activities require a good deal of technical know-how, of course, and are not for the faint at heart.
