Tag: Barnes & Noble

Tech News Highlights For Today

Linda Reimer

I know I keep saying this but it has been super busy again in library land today thus a rather short (at least for me!) blog posting!

Here’s a link to a paidContent article titled “Not a good sign: Barnes & Noble just keeps slashing Nook tablet prices” which relays the fact that B&N has cut the price of its Nook e-readers and e-reading tablets and speculates that B&N may be getting ready to sell its e-book vision:

http://paidcontent.org/2013/06/17/not-a-good-sign-barnes-noble-just-keeps-slashing-nook-tablet-prices/

A second link to an interesting paidContent article titled “News is like water now — it takes the path of least resistance” which discusses the ways people are getting their news today in our high tech 24-7-365-internet-connected world:

http://paidcontent.org/2013/06/17/news-is-like-water-now-it-takes-the-path-of-least-resistance/

And a third link, this from the tech site Gigaom, on one of my favorite topics (you’d never know that be reading this blog!) – the subject of large media/cable companies like Time Warner and Comcast dragging and hindering any other company that tries to make it easier for consumers who increasingly like to watch Internet TV instead of cable TV to be able to access their content via the Internet. The article is titled “How big cable uses its muscles to prevent online competition” – here’s the link:

http://gigaom.com/2013/06/12/how-big-cable-uses-its-muscles-to-prevent-online-competition/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Hesseldahl, Arik. Tweet Is Now a real Word, and the Oxford English Dictionary Says So. All Things Digital.

Ingram, Mathew. News is like water now — it takes the path of least resistance. paidContent. Online. Accessed June 17, 2013.

Owen, Lauren. (2013, June 17). Not a good sign: Barnes & Noble just keeps slashing Nook tablet prices. paidContent. Online. Accessed June 17, 2013.

Roettgers, Janko. How big cable uses its muscles to prevent online competition. Gigaom. Online. Accessed June 17, 2013. 

Barnes & Noble: Nook Apps For PC & Mac Discontinued /Promotes Snap Nook Books & Apple’s New Mission Statement

Linda Reimer

Barnes & Noble: Nook Apps For PC & Mac Discontinued/ Promotes Snap Nook Books: Barnes & Noble has finally discontinued supporting its Nook apps for PCs and Macs. Now you can read your B&N Nook e-books through the web browser on your PC or Mac instead of having to download the Nook software.

Here’s a link to an engadget article on the subject titled “Barnes and Noble axes Nook PC, Mac apps, directs you to Nook for Web instead:”

http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/11/barnes-noble-nook-for-pc-mac/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

Barnes & Noble is also promoting their “Snap” e-books which are like the Kindle shorts e-books Amazon offers – they are short e-books and can be read in one sitting or in a snap! These short books are frequently written by popular authors like Lee Child and Craig Johnson so they are solid works of short fiction designed for the busy life style – or you can see them simply as a means to introducing readers to an author whose works they are not familiar with at a cheaper than full-length book price – as most Snaps and Shorts costs under $3.

Here’s a link to a Verge article on the subject tilted “Barnes & Noble tries to draw in readers with exclusive Nook Snaps ebooks:”

http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4402486/barnes-noble-tries-to-draw-in-readers-with-exclusive-nook-snaps-ebooks

Apple’s New Mission Statement: Apple came out with new mission statement yesterday; their mission is to simplify and perfect their products so those products delight their customers.

Here a link to an All Things D article that gives you the low down on this lofty subject – it is titled “Apple’s Declaration of Values: Simplify, Perfect, Delight;”

http://allthingsd.com/20130611/apples-declaration-of-values-simplify-perfect-delight/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Cooper, Daniel. (2013, June 11). Barnes and Noble axes Nook PC, Mac apps, directs you to Nook for Web instead. Engadget. Online. Accessed June 11, 2013.

Paczkowski, John. (2013, June 11). Apple’s Declaration of Values: Simplify, Perfect, Delight. All Things D. Online. Accessed June 11, 2013.

Roberts, (2013, June 11). Barnes & Noble tries to draw in readers with exclusive Nook Snaps ebooks. The Verge. Online. Accessed June 11, 2013. 

Want To Buy A 3 D Printer? Staples Will Have Them Soon! Nook HD Becomes A Real Tablet & More On Aereo

Linda Reimer

Want To Buy A 3 D Printer? Staples Will Have Them Soon! You’ve probably heard a bit about 3 D Printers and how they will transform the way we life when they become available. And that day is almost here! Staples spokesmen have announced that in June it will begin selling the Cube 3D Printer for $1,299!

And just as a refresher in case you’re thinking the term “3D Printer” sounds familiar but you can’t quite recall all the ins and outs about it…3 D Printers aren’t really printers but instead can be thought of as entry level replicators (for all the Star Trek fans out there!). The “printers” will create 3 dimensional objects based upon information users send a 3 D printer via a computer. So if you need a new cover or case for your iPhone or tablet – and you’d like a bright blue one you’ll be able to create one at home with your 3D Printer. If you want to create a chess set, a new shirt, new hat, new action figures for your grandchildren or colorful jewelry to go with that new outfit you just bought – you can use your 3 D Printer to create those items!

3 D Printing is cool technology and will be available at a Staples near you very soon!

Here’s a link to a Verge article, titled Staples becomes first major US retailor to sell 3D printers with $1,299 Cube, on the subject:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/3/4297612/staples-first-major-us-retailer-sell-3d-printers-cube-3d-printer

And if you’d like to know more about 3D Printers or the 3D Printing process this link will take you to the tech site Mashable were you can learn more:

http://mashable.com/category/3d-printing/

Nook HD Becomes A Real Tablet: Barnes & Noble has just made the Nook HD a real tablet! And by “real” I mean that the tablet will now have access to the Google Play Store and be able to run all Android apps in the store. This new functionality does make the Nook HD a real tablet because previously you could only run select Nook tablets on it – which means you didn’t have access to all the apps in the Play Store. But now if you have a Nook HD, or  you get one for Mother’s Day (B&N is running a big sale on them this week) you’ll have access to the entire Play Store and be able to install any apps in the store like for example the Amazon Instant Video app or the Amazon Kindle app! Yes it is true for the first time ever you can now read Amazon Kindle e-books on a Nook! And that is something you cannot do in reverse – you cannot read Nook e-books on a Kindle — at least not yet but Amazon isn’t one on its laurels so I bet we’ll see that functionality added to the Kindle Fire HD series in the near future.  

More On Aereo: I came across a cool article on the Aereo TV services this weekend that pretty much sums up my reaction to the outrage the traditional media companies and networks are expressing over the success of to this television service company.

Just as a refresher Aereo made its debut last year and what it does is to assign an antenna to each customer; and that antenna then records the free over the air video transmissions that major networks have always sent out over the airwaves for free for people so that people who don’t have cable television can receive those signals/videos via rabbit ears or some other type of antenna. It is legal for people to use antennas to receive and record television programs over the air for their own use and it has been twice ruled as being legal for Aereo to provide a service to customers by offering the same service – assigning one antenna and DVR for each customer and those customers can then access recorded content on any tech device they own at any time – smartphone, tablet, PC etc.

So having finished with the refresher section I have to say I agree with Nick Mokey the author of the Digital Trends article on Aereo titled “Aereo’s quasilegal TV streaming is just what we need to slap big media awake.”

I too think that established media, network and cable companies want to hold on to their traditional status quo and would rather everyone pay them for an expensive cable package then to be able to watch the television shows, movies and other content they broadcast whenever they want to on any Internet connecting device that they own. So those same media, network and cable companies are dragging their feet when it comes to providing consumers with access to television shows, movies and e-books on all their devices and on demand – they could do so — they have the ability to do so – they could create a CBS, ABC & NBC, Universal, MGM etc. video store with accompanying app that would allow consumers to buy al la carte content on demand directly from them at any time – they’d make money hand over foot just not via their traditional business models. So I definitely concur with Nick Mokey that Aereo’s success is a very good thing because just maybe those media, network and cable companies will start to innovate and get on the bandwagon of allowing easy 24/7/365 access to content that their customers and many others want. I know I’d be happy to pay for episodes of television series that I want to watch and if back catalog content were available through Network stores I’d be thrilled I might actually get to watch seasons 4 & 5 of Hill Street Blues again – you can stream and buy season 1 & 2 but forget about buying a DVD or streaming seasons 3-7 they are not currently available in either format.

And I’m getting off my soap-box now! Thanks for reading & have a great day!

Linda R.

Here’s the link to the Digital Trends article on Aereo:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/aereos-hellraising-is-just-what-we-needed-to-slap-tv-networks-awake/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Bohn, Dieter. (2013, May 3).Nook HD & HD+ get full Google Play support for Android apps. Online.

Mokey, Nick. (2013, May 2). Aereo’s quasilegal TV streaming is just what we need to slap big media awake. Online.

Welch, Christ. (2013, May 3). Staples becomes first major US retailer to sell 3D printers with $1,299 Cube. The Verge. Online. 

Humorous David Pogue Post On The E-Reader Wars!

Linda Reimer

And I had to share this! David Pogue, the New York Times resident tech guru and reviewer, has a humorous article on the e-reader war going on between Amazon and Barnes & Noble. And he notes how exhausting it must for the e-reader development teams at both companies to try and continually out-do each other – and he compares the new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite e-reader to the Barnes & Noble Glowlight e-reader to do so. It is a fun and informative article titled New E-Reader Lets There Be More Light and it can be accessed via this link:

http://goo.gl/BAMlS

Enjoy!

Linda R.

New Barnes & Noble Nooks & Streaming Video Service & Other Items of Tech Note!

Linda Reimer

New Barnes & Noble Nooks: On the tablet front, Barnes & Noble introduced two new Nooks on Wednesday; the Nook HD and the Nook HD+. The former is a 7” tablet and the later a 9” tablet. Both tablets have improved screen resolution over previous Nook models. In addition, they are family friendly because they have the capability of allowing up to six people to log in individually and personalize the Nook via their individual log ins. The tablets both have parental controls as well so parents can decide what their children can access e-book and app-wise. Both models will be coming out November 1st and can be pre-ordered from Barnes & Noble now.

Here’s a link to the B&N Nook description page if you’d like to see all the bells and whistles these new tablets offer:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook/379003208

New Barnes & Noble Streaming Video Service: On the video streaming front, B&N announced this week that it is rolling out a video streaming service. This new service will allow Nook owners to rent, buy and view television shows and movies from Barnes & Noble on their Nook tablets.  In addition, this new service, like Amazon’s Instant Video service, will allow people to purchase and view video content on other devices – so you’ll be able to watch B&N videos on your Nook and also, via apps or a software download, to your PC, smartphone, iPad, Galaxy Tab etc.

Here’s a link to a CNET article on the subject titled Nook Video Opens New Chapter for B&N e-Reader:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-57519573-251/nook-video-opens-new-chapter-for-b-n-e-reader/

California Approves Self Driving Cars: On Tuesday (9-25), California Governor Jerry Brown really did sign that law that will allow self-driving cars on California roads!

PC Magazine offers a nice article on the subject titled California Governor Signs Self-Driving Car Bill Into Law – here’s the link:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410180,00.asp

And if you’d rather watch your news – here’s a link to a YouTube video that shows the governor signing the bill with Google co-founder Sergey Brin looking on!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAHdX2I4fuE&feature=player_embedded#!

CNET Reports You Can Sign up for a Free Year of Sirius Internet Radio: CNET has an article on their site today titled Freebie Friday Get A Free Year of Sirius XM Internet Radio; it relays the news that the company know for its Car Satellite Radio service actually offers an Internet Radio service too. The service is similar to Pandora and Spotify in that you can access it via apps on your tablet or smartphone and also via the web. The service usually costs $14.99 per month but right now Sirius is offering a free one year subscription to the service – available for a limited time only. Here’s the link:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13845_3-57522181-58/freebie-friday-get-a-free-year-of-siriusxm-internet-radio/

Have a great weekend everyone!

Linda R. 

Chrome Browser Now Available for iPad & iPhone & Library E-Books: Part IV

Linda Reimer

Chrome Browser Now Available for iPad & iPhone: Google Chrome iPad & iPhone users rejoice! There is finally an app for that! You can now download the free Google Chrome Browser for your iPhone or iPad from the app store. So if you like Chrome and have been eagerly awaiting its introduction as an Apple’s app – now is the time to download it!

Library E-Books: Part IV: Today’s library e-book posting is going to focus on how you download free library e-books to Barnes & Noble’s Nooks.

And I’m going to jump right into this subject by repeating what I said earlier last week about DRM and also noting two things you need to have access to before you begin the get-free-library-e-books-on-a-Nook process.

1) DRM: DRM, also known as Digital Rights Management software, is the reason that the download process for library e-books contains so many steps; and in fact, more steps if you have a Nook than if you have a Kindle or tablet. DRM is a restrictive software built into e-books at the insistence of publishers as an anti-piracy tool. And basically DRM locks library e-books and you have to go through a process to unlock the library e-books before you can read them. And in the case of the STLS Digital Catalog the software you need to unlock the e-books is called Adobe Digital Editions.

2) Two Things You Have Need To Have Access To Before You Begin The Get Free Library E-Books On A Nook Process: You have to have your own computer and you have to have an Internet connection. If you’ve read all the postings last week about public library e-books you may wonder why you need your own PC to check library e-books out to a Nook – because you don’t need that if you own a Kindle. And the reason for that is because Amazon actually unlocks the DRM software on library e-books sent to Kindles – that occurs when you log into the Amazon website. With Nooks you have to unlock the e-books yourself and that is why you need to have your own Internet connected computer and also why you have to download the Adobe Digital Editions software.

So before you can begin the regular process of downloading free library e-books to a Nook – and that is the process you will use in the future – you have to go through a preparation process.

And the preparation process is to go to your Internet connected computer and:

1) Go to the library’s website found at: SSCLIBRARY.ORG

2) Click on the STLS Digital Catalog link  –  found at the right hand side of the page – about half way down the page (The Digital Catalog home page will display)

3) Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page until you see a box labeled “Digital Book Software.” And underneath that you should see a link that says “Adobe® Digital Editions For Adobe eBooks”

4) Click on the Adobe® Digital Editions For Adobe eBooks link and the Help – Software – Adobe eBooks page will display

5) Click on the Download Adobe Digital Editions link or icon and the download process will start – you’ll be re-directed to the Adobe Digital Editions site.

6) Follow the prompts until the download process and the create-Adobe-account process is complete.

7) The Adobe Digital Editions icon will then display on your desktop

Note: During the download process you will be required to create a free Adobe Digital Editions account and the Adobe Digital Editions software will download to your computer. If you find this a complex process please do feel free to call the library and make an appointment to sit down with a staff member who will assist you in setting up your Adobe Digital Editions account and in checking our your first library e-books and getting them onto your Nook

And once you’ve downloaded the Adobe Digital Editions software and registered a free Adobe Digital Editions account then the future process to check out library e-books to your Nook is:

1) Plug your Nook into your computer and it should appear as a plugged in e-reading device within the Adobe Digital Editions Window.

2) Open the Adobe Digital Editions software on your computer (the icon looks like a book and if you just downloaded the software it should already be open)

3) Open a web browser and go to the library’s website: SSCLIBRARY.ORG

4) Click on the STLS Digital Catalog link (this is the same link we used to get to the Digital Catalog home page before…) and the Digital Catalog will display

5) Look for a e-book you’d like to read (EPUB or PDF format – and EPUB is preferable)

6) Click the Add to Cart link and the My Cart page will display.

7) Click the Proceed to checkout link and the Sign in page will display

8) Sign in by selecting the Southern Tier Library System from the drop down box, entering your library card number in Library card number box, entering your PIN number in the PIN box (your PIN numbers is initially the last four digits of your telephone number) and clicking on the gray Sign in button; the Check Out page will display

9) Click on the Confirm check out button and the Download page will display

10) Click on the gray Download button (and depending upon which version of Windows you are using you may have to open downloaded e-book file via the status bar (likely with Windows 7) or the e-book may just open in the Adobe Digital Editions window; the Adobe Digital Editions window should open and the Reading view will display

11) Click on the Library View link – the icon appears as three books standing straight up and is found in the top left hand corner of the Adobe Digital Editions window (right under the name of the window – “Adobe Digital Editions;” the Library View will display

12) Move your cursor until it is right over the top of the e-book and then press down and hold your left mouse button down and move it leftward across the window until it is right over the top of your Nook (your Nook should be in the column at the left hand side of the page – the e-book will be transferred to your Nook with DRM software unlocked

13) Unplug your Nook

14) With most Nook models you will find the e-book in your documents folder – and you can then begin reading it!

As this is a long process –and the library has actually created a video to assist Nook users in obtaining library  e-books! And the video does show you step-by-step how to go through the preparation process by downloading the Adobe Digital Editions software and then it goes through the entire check out process – so please do check it out! The only little thing to note is that we have changed the title of the link to the Digital Catalog on our home page – it now says “STLS Digital Catalog” and in the video it is seen under the old title of “E-Books and Audio Books” – we updated the link when we added video and music formats to the catalog – so if  you just remember that one little thing that has been changed – the video will easily guide you through the process of checking out e-books to your Nook!

Here’s the link to the library’s Youtube page where you can access the video – it is in the section titled “How to videos from SSC Library” and is simply titled “How To Check Library E-Books Out To A Nook:”

http://www.youtube.com/user/SESTEUBENCOLIBRARY/videos?view=1

Linda R.