Tag: Nook

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. 

Microsoft Reportedly Negotiating To Buy B&N’s Nook E-Book Division, Amazon Is Working On A 3D Cell Phone! & The PBS App Comes To Roku

Linda Reimer

Microsoft Reportedly Negotiating To Buy B&N’s Nook E-Book Division: Microsoft, which previously invested more than $605 million dollars in the Nook division, has reportedly offered Barnes & Noble one billion dollars to purchase the Nook division which would include both the Nook e-readers and tablets and the Nook e-books. And those few facts are interesting to begin with; however, what I find even more interesting is that it is also being reported that if the deal goes through Microsoft will can the Nook series of e-readers and tablets and make the Nook e-books available on Microsoft tablets, smartphones and computers. So if you’re thinking of buying a new e-reader or tablet – you may want to wait or think about buying an e-reader or tablet!*

Here’s a link to a Forbes editorial on the subject, authored by one of their tech columnists Jeremy Greenfield, titled Microsoft To Buy Nook? What It Could Mean:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2013/05/09/commentary-microsoft-to-buy-nook-what-it-could-mean/

Amazon Is Working On A 3D Cell Phone! If you’re of an age that recalls going to see the very first Star Wars film in 1977, which was by-the-way – years before our current high tech revolution really kicked off, then you’ll probably recall the scene that features Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi try and get R2D2 to reply the SOS message Princess Leia recorded – and presto a 3D image of Princess Leia appeared and Luke and Obi-Wan discovered she was in trouble! That 3D message was cool and that type of technology will soon be coming to an Amazon smartphone near you! Amazon isn’t commenting on this news but according to a Wall Street Journal article it is so!

And, naturally, here is a link to that Wall Street Journal article which is titled Amazon Is Developing Smartphone With 3-D Screen and subtitled New Gadgets, Including Audio-Only Device, Is Bid to Expand Beyond Kindle Fire:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324744104578473081373377170.html

And if you have a Roku Player, as I do! You’ll want to check out the newly introduced PBS app – a chance to now watch all that PBS content you couldn’t stream directly through Roku before! Cool stuff!

And here’s a link to an engadet article on the subject titled Roku can now tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Street with new PBS channels:

Have a great evening!

Linda R.

*The Google Nexus is an outstanding 7” tablet that you can read e-books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other e-book sellers upon – it cost $199 and in fact I’d recommend it over a Kindle or Nook in that price range because it is a fully fledged tablet and doesn’t lock you into the Amazon or B&N ecosystem. If you’d like to sit down and try out a Google Nexus 7 tablet – stop by the library – we have one here!

References

Bensinger, Greg. (2013, May 9). Amazon Is Developing Smartphone With 3-D Screen. Wall Street Journal. Online.

Gilbert, Ben. (2013, May 8). Roku can now tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Street with new PBS channels. Engadget. Online.

Greenfield, Jeremy. (2013, May 9). Commentary: Microsoft To Buy Nook? What It Could Mean? Forbes. Online.

Barnes & Noble Lowers The Price of Its Nook Tablets & Tablets Are An Easy Sell For Millennials

Linda Reimer

Barnes & Noble Lowers The Price of Its Nook Tablets: Barnes & Noble has lowered the price of its 7” tablets: The Nook Color and Nook Tablet. Despite the names both really are entry level Android (aka running Google’s operating system) tablets and not just fancy e-book readers. And B&N has cut the price of the Nook Color and 8 GB Nook Tablet by $20 to $150 and $180 respectively; and has dropped the price of the 16 GB Nook Tablet by $50 to $200.

It is not difficult to see why B&N has lowered the prices on its series of tablets – Google’s new Nexus 7 costs $199, is selling like proverbial hotcakes, and really is an Android Tablet – translation – it has more bells and whistles like a front facing camera for video chats. The B&N tablets are very nice but are really fancy color e-readers made to consume e-books and media content from Barnes & Noble. Ditto that for Amazon’s Kindle series –for although it is true you can get apps for all the B&N and Amazon tablets they really are devices created to primarily access content from their respective stores – e-books, music, video and limited app content from B&N and Amazon. The Nexus 7 in contrast allow you to access all the 600,000 apps in the Google App Store, offers a front facing camera, access to a greater variety of media content and additional bells and whistles.  And all of that is not to mention the fact that Amazon, Apple and Microsoft are expected to unveil new tablets by the end of the year so it really isn’t surprisingly that Barnes & Noble has lowered the prices on its tablet series.

Here’s a link to a PC World article on the Nook Price Cuts:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/260783/barnes_and_noble_cuts_nook_prices.html

And a link to the Google Nexus 7 page:

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_8gb

Tablets Are An Easy Sell For The Millennials:  Rob Enderle, a tech writer for TechNewsWorld, offers an article this morning titled The Windows 8 Generation Gap: Size Matters. And I have to start out my comments about the article by pondering how fast the years go! I think the author, who describes himself as being part of the generation that came of age in the opening days of the PC era, is probably in his forties just like me. And I have to say in reading his article I was left with that feeling of oh-how-fast-time-flies! Because I too recall first getting a PC when they were the new, cool tech item and how exciting that was and how cool it was to send those early e-mails and work on those early Macs here at the library in the eighties! And I agree with Mr. Enderle that change is harder for people as they get older and that those people that have come of age since the year 2000 are much more likely to like using tablets right off the top than those of us who came of age earlier. It makes sense because those people grew up with the Internet, and later touch screens and smart phones  and are really are native users of those devices and thus can type up a storm on a touch screen device whether that typing consist of texting someone else or typing an email. In contrast, computer users who are older than the Millennials might love tech gadgets but like yours truly might not like to type on a virtual tablet keyboard. I don’t  have to worry for I known physical keyboards are likely to be around for a number of years to come but eventually, I am sure, they too will fall out of mainstream usage just like typewriters have in the last twenty odd  years. Of course if they just hurry up and perfect voice recognition technology – I’ll be all set! I won’t have to type at all I’ll just be able to talk to my tablet and tell it what to do – and I can do that!

Here’s a link to the Enderle article titled The Windows 8 Generation Gap Size Matters:

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/The-Windows-8-Generation-Gap-Size-Matters-75868.html

Linda R. 

Afternoon Update: New Library E-Books In Digital Catalog Today & Map App For Nooks Available Today

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, just a quick library e-book and Nook update for this afternoon!

New Library E-Books In Digital Catalog Today: For all those e-book fans out there – you may want to check our Digital Catalog for new e-book titles this evening as according to our Digital Catalog administrator a “ton of e-content” has just been ordered for the system-wide Digital Catalog! And that ton of items includes the Southeast Steuben County Library digital content order for August which includes e-books and a smattering of videos including several fitness/how-to-get-in-shape videos.

And it usually takes about 6 hours for new digital content to appear in the Digital Catalog so you may want to check the Catalog around 9:30 tonight or tomorrow morning to see the ton of new titles! (And remember new titles appear first in the entire listing of titles so you may want to click on the “View all eBooks” link found under Collections – located on the left hand side of the Digital Catalog homepage).

And if you’re not familiar with it, the STLS Digital Catalog* (which is the collective Digital Catalog for all the libraries in the Southern Tier Library System) may be accessed by going to the Library’s homepage found at: SSCLIBRARY.ORG and then clicking on the STLS Digital Catalog link.

Map App For Nooks Available Today: And on the Nook news front, Barnes & Noble has beat Amazon in the race to get a map app on its color e-readers. Barnes & Noble has collaborated with a Berlin company called Skobbler to produce the app. And the app, which is called Skobbler’s ForeverMap 2 app, is available in both a free and paid ($4.99) version via the Barnes & Noble app store today.

Here’s a link a PaidContent article on the subject and of course the B&N app store can be accessed directly from your Nook Tablet or Color Nook:

http://paidcontent.org/2012/07/30/barnes-noble-tablets-get-maps-before-kindle-fire/

Enjoy the rest of your afternoon and evening!

Linda R.

*If you have an Apple or Android tablet or smart phone – there is an app that will allow you to download free library e-books to your respective device – it is called OverDrive Media Console and can be found in both the Android and Apple app stores. And if you have an e-reader, there isn’t an app for e-books but you can still download library e-books and put them on your e-reader! If you have a Kindle just find a Kindle e-book in the Digital Catalog, click on the Add to Cart link for the e-book and follow the prompts. If you have a Nook I recommend that you either stop by the library and ask the staff about the check-out procedure, we have free handouts that offer an overview!, or, click on the link for the Library’s YouTube page found on our homepage and access our video Nook tutorial as the process for getting free library e-books onto a Nook requires multiple steps – and of course you can always ask the staff! Call the library at: 607-936-3713

You Can Now Read Nook E-Books On A PC Or Mac & YouTube Is A News Source For Many

Linda Reimer

You Can Now Read Nook E-Books On A PC Or Mac: Today Barnes & Noble released Nook web browser software for its Nook e-books. This means that finally you can read Barnes & Noble Nook e-books via the web browser on your PC or Mac as well as on your Nook or tablet.

Amazon of course has offered Kindle e-book browser access for several years and now Barnes & Noble has jumped on the same bandwagon. And to translate all of that tech talk into our basic common every day tongue – you can now access any Kindle or Barnes & Noble e-book that you have purchased, or will purchase, through the web browser on your PC or Mac. And so if, for example, you’ve previously purchased a non-fiction e-book to read on your e-reader or tablet and you wish to refer to facts contained within it because you are typing up a report and wish to double check a fact– you can download the appropriate software from Amazon or Barnes & Noble and open that e-book up and read it on your computer. It certainly makes it easier to look up facts if your report is being typed up in Word on the same computer!

Here’s a link to a CNET article on that subject titled Nook Chases After Kindle with Browser Based Service:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-57473687-2/nook-chases-after-kindle-with-browser-based-service/

Here’s a link to the Barnes & Noble page that allows you to download the software you need to read Nook e-books on your Mac or PC:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook-for-web/379003594

And in relation, here’s the link to that Amazon web page that offers you the option to download the Amazon Kindle reader for Mac or PC – Amazon now calls it Kindle for the Web:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_short_webvanity?docId=1000579091

YouTube Is A News Source For Many: Did you know that many people now check the video site YouTube when a news story breaks? I didn’t either! However, it seems this is a growing trend as people look for videos shot by amateur reporters, professional reporters, and frequently, every day citizens who have simply been in the right place at the right time to video tape a news story on their smart phone and then uploaded it to YouTube.

So the next time a story breaks you may want to search the YouTube site, located at YouTube.com, to find information and videos dealing with breaking news stories.

NPR has a really cool story on this growing trend today it is called

Here’s A Scoop: When News Breaks People Check YouTube For Videos and can be accessed by clicking on the follow link:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/07/16/156832856/heres-a-scoop-when-news-breaks-people-check-youtube-for-videos

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.