Barnes and Noble has released another firmware update for the Nook, version 1.3.

The most notable additions are a web browser and some games like Sudoku and chess, along with improved speed for turning pages and opening ebooks.

They've also added in-store ebook reading, where you can read any ebook while in a Barnes and Noble store for up to an hour, as the fine print seems to indicate.

Check out Barnes and Noble's Nook support page for the update and details.

Filed under: Nook | Tags: BN, firmware | No Comments »

There's some interesting Nook rumors floating around the web. Gizmodo and some other websites are reporting that a Wi-Fi only Nook (dubbed Nook Lite) is coming within the next couple of months that will supposedly sell for just $199.

And there's also supposed to be a Nook 2 sometime later this year that has something to do with “Project Encore”–details are sketchy at this point.

And last but not least, another Nook firmware update is supposedly coming out next week that will include a web browser. Web browsers are pretty lame on E Ink devices, but with the Nook's LCD screen web browsing may be a huge plus. We'll have to wait and see.

Filed under: Nook | Tags: BN, firmware | No Comments »

iRex has released a Beta version of a firmware upgrade for the iRex DR-800. Visit the iRex blog for the download.

Improvements from v1.0

* 3G Connection Setup time improved by using Qualcomm Network Driver
* Show 3G signal strength on status bar while connected
* Add Notepad application

* Add Advanced Settings, allowing:
o Scribble on PDF documents
o Zoom in PDF documents
o Enable folder-browsing of your SD card
* Adobe 9.1 RMSDK based rendering of PDF and EPUB, including B&N EPUB support and image dithering

* Integrated B&N Creditcard input dialog into the document open flow (ask only if needed)
* Support EPUBs without embedded fonts for e.g. Greek, Polish, Russian
* Add Go To Page function to document viewer
* Move Continue Reading to the first position of the Home screen

* Automatic indexing of Thumbnails and Title/Author metadata (can be disabled in Advanced Settings)
* Added Time Zone selection to the Date/Time Settings
* View Book Information menu function that shows more details for PDF and EPUB
* Fixed issues with EPUB rendering when GUI language is non-English
* Fixed a bug where the Power Management would fail and the battery would drain quickly (related to pagination of PDB and TXT documents)

* Many other bugfixes

Filed under: iRex | Tags: dr-800, firmware | No Comments »