Barnes & Noble

Report: New Nook coming this spring

The New York Times today published a long piece about Barnes & Noble taking on Amazon in the "fight of its life." Buried in the middle of the two-page article is a small mention of engineers "putting the final touches on their [Barnes & Noble's] fifth e-reading device, a product that executives said would be released sometime this spring."

No details were offered beyond that, with a Barnes & Noble spokesperson declining to comment further. But the obvious question is what is it?

Another tablet, perhaps a larger model (think iPad size but with a $… Read more

Tablet ownership nearly doubled during the holidays

The holidays were certainly prosperous for the tablet industry.

The number of U.S. tablet owners just about doubled from 10 percent to 19 percent between the middle of December and the start of January, according to a Pew Internet report out today.

Coming from a period of flat growth since the summer, tablets enjoyed a surge during the holiday season as lower-cost devices such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble's Nook tablet reached shoppers just in the nick of time.

But tablet vendors weren't the only ones on a holiday hot streak.

E-book readers … Read more

Barnes & Noble offers free Nook with NYT or People subscription

Barnes & Noble will give customers a free or discounted Nook e-reader when they purchase a one-year subscription to People or the New York Times, a limited-time offer--good through March 9--that's also one of the first major attempts to piggyback e-readers onto magazine or newspaper subscriptions.

"We're continuing to make it easier than ever for customers to get more out of their Nook device," Jonathan Shar, vice president and general manager of digital newsstand at Barnes & Noble, said in a press release. "And we are excited to offer our most popular content and leading … Read more

Barnes & Noble CEO: We're committed to the Nook

Although there have been doubts about the Nook (and e-book readers in general) lately, Barnes & Noble isn't giving up on the brand anytime soon.

CEO William Lynch told CNBC today that Barnes & Noble will continue to reinforce the relationship between the digital Nook e-book brand and its brick-and-mortar stores.

Rebuffing the idea that B&N would be spinning off its Nook unit, instead, Lynch reaffirmed the company's stance on the future of digital content:

The growth is going to be in digital, hence our investments in digital and how we've scaled that business. But … Read more

Kodak mulls bankruptcy protection

Logitech tries to reinvent the mouse with the Cube, the next Xbox may have built-in DVR functionality, and venerable Kodak lays plans for bankruptcy protection if it can't sell its patents.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Kodak mulls bankruptcy protection DVR coming to Xbox? Apple hunting for iTV content deals Nintendo sells 4 million 3DS units Music sales up for first time in seven years Barnes & Noble may spin off Nook business Logitech's boxy mouse Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (HD) | RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS HD

Low Latency No. 4: Maybe we need to rethink this

No one can blame Barnes & Noble for getting into the e-book reader market, but does anyone else sense just a hint of irony in the fact that the very thing that might save the company may also be the death of its brick-and-mortar stores?… Read more

Nook spinoff could be next chapter for Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble said it is exploring a spinoff of its Nook e-reader unit so it can continue to scale the business.

In a statement, Barnes & Noble said that it is looking to “unlock” the value of the Nook unit. That’s shorthand to acknowledge that the brick and mortar retail unit overshadows Barnes & Noble’s digital content business. The move may also mean that Barnes & Noble doesn’t have the resources to scale the Nook business.

Indeed, Barnes & Noble cut its sales forecast for fiscal 2012, which ends April 30. The company projected fiscal 2012 … Read more

Barnes & Noble looking to sell book publisher?

As more and more book buyers turn to e-readers, Barnes & Noble appears to be abandoning traditional publishing.

Barnes & Noble, the largest bookseller in the U.S., is looking for a buyer for Sterling Publishing unit, people familiar with the situation tell The Wall Street Journal. The bookseller acquired Sterling, a traditional publisher of nonfiction titles, for $115 million in 2003. Sterling boasts and active list of more than 5,000 owned and distributed titles, specializing on gardening, cooking, and crafts, as well as children's books.

A Barnes & Noble representative declined to comment.

"Sterling has a … Read more

Kindle Fire, Nook driving 7-inch display demand

Strong demand for the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet is boosting demand for 7-inch displays above the more traditional 9.7-inch tablet display size, according to an Asia-based report.

Shipments of 7-inch display panels in November grew about 17 percent month on month, surpassing shipments of 9.7-inch displays, according to a report in Taipei-based Digitimes.

Amazon said earlier this month that the Kindle Fire is its bestselling product and sales have been increasing week over week. Sales of at least several million are projected in the first month.

Barnes & Noble, meanwhile, is expected to take delivery of well … Read more

An e-reader or tablet for Christmas?

Tablets and e-readers are all the rage this holiday season. So which device is right for the loved ones on your Christmas list?

Tablet or e-reader?

Dear Maggie, I am thinking about getting my wife an e-reader or a tablet for Christmas. And I wanted to hear your thoughts. Basically, I'm just looking for something she can read books and magazines on. An Internet browser would also be good if it's available, but it's not necessary. In our home, we already have two lap tops, two iPhones and a BlackBerry, so we're pretty connected as it … Read more