Kindle Fire vs. Nook Tablet from School Library Journal on Vimeo....

From the press release.  In addition they are offering $50 off their tablet with a subscription to People. Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced that customers who purchase a one-year NOOK subscription to The New York Times will receive a top-rated NOOK Simple Touch at no cost or the award-winning NOOK Color for just $99. Barnes & Noble customers...

Laptop Magazine has a side-by-side comparison of these two ereaders.  Very useful for someone who is undecided.  Here's a snippet: Design and Ergonomics Side by side, these two gray rectangles display some striking differences in look, shape, and feel. At 6.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches the Nook Simple Touch is closer to square than the Kindle Touch (6.8 x 4.7 x 0.4 inches). We found the charcoal color of the Barnes & Noble eReader more attractive, and the shape gave us the impression that it was smaller and lighter. We also preferred the soft-touch coating that makes the Nook feel rubberized,...

From the press release: Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS),the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today reported record holiday sales for its NOOK business, including devices and digital content.  During the nine-week holiday period ending December 31, 2011, NOOK unit sales, including NOOK Simple Touch™, NOOK Color™ and the new NOOK Tablet™, increased 70% over the same period last year.  Sales of NOOK Tablet exceeded expectations, while...

I haven’t posted much over the last few days, partly because of some trying times my family is going through right now. On New Year’s Eve, my Mom was in a farm equipment accident and ended up having her right arm amputated a few inches below the shoulder. It’s been hitting the family pretty hard, but we’ve had a lot of support from friends and family. It may take some time, but sooner or later we’ll be all right—or at least as all right as we can be under the circumstances. We’re all trying to think of ways that...

From the press release: Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of digital media and educational products, today announced that it has teamed up with VIZ Media, LLC, the largest distributor and publisher of anime and manga in North America, to bring the digital manga (graphic novel) experience to NOOK Tablet and NOOK Color customers. Debuting in the NOOK Store™ today, VIZ Media’s collection includes 18 series, featuring 107 volumes, from its popular Shojo Beat, Shonen Sunday and VIZ Signature imprints. Volumes are available for purchase and fast download in the U.S. and Canada for...

I previously mentioned Barnes & Noble selling refurbished Nook Colors on eBay for $130, but it turns out that’s not the only great e-reader deal the site is offering. CNet notes that, today and tomorrow only, B&N is listing the new, not refurbished, Nook Simple Touch e-reader on eBay for $74.99 ($25 off the current sale price elsewhere) with delivery by December 22. It notes that only a limited quantity of the readers are available, and it seems to sell out and get resupplied throughout the day. That’s $25 less than Amazon’s touchscreen Kindle With Special Offers. Might be...

The Bookseller reports that Theresa Horner, vice-president for digital content at Barnes & Noble, has announced that the Nook will be coming to the United Kingdom in the “not too distant future.” Though B&N hasn’t determined whether it will be partnering with a UK company or creating its own UK presence, it is seriously considering expanding now that it has created “a successful platform in the US to work from.” There has been speculation B&N might partner with the Waterstone’s chain, since having a print bookstore to work from would be beneficial to an e-reader. However, the company has...

What B&N is describing as the "largest NOOK Color software update ever that will bring access to movies, TV shows, hundreds of new apps, comics, graphic novels and more" has been released.  According to their website the update includes: The NOOK Color Ver 1.4.1 update contains new features and enhancements, including:  Access to popular movies and TV shows streamed through Netflix NOOK Comics™ including the largest collection of Marvel graphic novels - with vivid colors & rich images, the action nearly jumps off the page. Your issues always in perfect condition to enjoy again & again. PagePerfect™ NOOK Books™ - a whole new category...

From Engadget comes a review of the new Kobo Vox.  Seems that it is a disappointing entry.  Much more in the review: It's impossible to discuss Kobo's entry into the tablet space without also talking about fellow e-reader makers who have also recently made the leap into tablets. And by that measure, the Vox doesn't look good. It's a piece of last-generation hardware that offers up a limited multimedia experience on the software front. That might have been acceptable six months ago, but the Fire and Nook Tablet have changed the game as far as budget Android tabs go. For its part,...

From the press release: Total sales decreased 0.6% as compared to the prior year, from $1.90 billion to $1.89 billion. Barnes & Noble store (“Retail”) sales decreased 1% from $931 million to $918 million, with comparable sales decreasing 0.6%. Physical book sales declined, offset by increases in NOOK products and were positively affected by the liquidation of the remaining Borders stores. Comparable store sales improved each month throughout the quarter. Barnes & Noble College (“College”) sales declined 4% from $797 million to $768 million, due to a shift from selling new and used textbooks to lower priced, higher margin textbook rentals. Comparable...

That's the title of an article about both the Fire and Nook in Ars Technica: … are both vying for that special place in consumers' hearts reserved for inexpensive consumption devices. But neither is perfect, and in many aspects of the tablet experience, one succeeds while the other fails. Since we published our reviews, we've been getting e-mails asking us which is the better device. That's going to depend on what you value the most in your tablet experience. Are you looking for the cheapest tablet in town? Are you willing to pay a bit more for a better browsing experience? Which...