There’s been some speculation about Amazon releasing a new Kindle this fall for the Kindle’s 10th anniversary, but will Barnes and Noble be releasing a new Nook this year?
You never really know what B&N is going to do when it comes to their Nook business. It seems like they’re just as likely to give up on Nook as they are to continue making new Nooks.
But one thing we do know is B&N has a history of releasing a new Nook every two years.
The last model, the Nook Glowlight Plus, was released in October 2015.
The model before that, the Nook Glowlight, was released at the end of October 2013, and the original Nook Touch was released in 2011.
With the Glowlight Plus hitting its two-year birthday in less than two months, you have to wonder if B&N has a new Nook in the works.
Not many people were expecting the waterproof 300 ppi Glowlight Plus when it was released, so it’s entirely possible that B&N could surprise us again.
What if B&N releases a 7.8-inch Nook similar to the Kobo Aura One?
If Amazon makes the mistake of releasing another 6-inch Kindle with the same screen and features as current Kindles, that could be an advantage for B&N. It would probably be too little too late for most would-be customers, but there’s not really much B&N could do with another 6-inch Nook to differentiate it from the Glowlight Plus.
How many people would be willing to give Barnes and Noble another chance if they somehow released a new unique and cutting-edge Nook?
A 6.8 or 7.8 would be great, as long as it reads various formats like a Kobo. They can still be successful if they get leadership that understands technology.
If they came out with a larger than 6 inch new e-ink device I would definitely buy it.
Added to that comment, I hope that if they do come out with a new reader they do a better job at launching it than they did with the Glowlight Plus. All of the problems they had with Adobe Digital Editions for library books really hurt them from the start. They would really need to make sure the new reader was almost flawless right out of the gate in order to inspire enough confidence from their customers to be willing to take a chance with them.
Their next product is going to have to make them stand out above the rest. I prefer someone like B&N since they are in the US and provide technical assistance locally. B&N needs to use that as a selling point.
I bought a Glowlight Plus, but returned it a week later because it no longer had a font that approached being bold. Previously, the Nook Simple Touch had Helvetica Neue font, which was somewhat bold.
I got the impression that B&N hadn’t done much consumer testing before releasing it. Result: techie bells and whistles, such as thinner fonts, which were not necessarily what customers wanted.
I’d have zero confidence in a new nook. People are still having lots of trouble getting library books to work. After having the Kobo Aura One with built-in library ebooks, I’ll never go back.
I think they should come up with a better business plan…
I bought the first nook color I don’t know how many years ago. Didn’t get anything new until…this summer, 2017.
I got the Samsung Galaxy Tab A and I’m really just lukewarm over it. Probably spent too much for what it is but I wanted a new nook color and the Samsung was what they had to sell for my budget.
If they only do a new B&W screen I wouldn’t get it anyway.
Given that they are formally shutting down the (semi-moribund) Nook Support Forums on September 7, I’d suggest that the answer is most probably “no.”
By that logic they’ll be giving up Nook tablets and stop selling Nook ebooks too since they were apart of the forums as well, so I don’t see it as a nail in the coffin for Nook devices just yet.
No. It does not mean that. It is however further indication that they’re not willing to throw any more money at the project.
They will most likely continue selling existing Nook models as long as their sales are sufficient to warrant it. However if they’re unwilling to spend the minimal amount of cash to maintain a support forum, then I’d suggest that they’re unlikely to be willing to spend the more substantial amount of cash necessary to develop a new model.
I have a weak spot for Nooks since my first NST ist still going strong, and was quite a versatile platform thanks to rooting. Now, Android 2.1 is really showing its age, and a new, updated, easily rootable and well-made device would be more than welcome.
But looking at current developments around B&N, I have my doubts..
I agree with Hrafn. B&N is shutting down the Nook Support Forums so the likelihood of a new Nook eInk device is very low.
Amazon has a strangle hold on the US market. I had a recent email exchange with an author I recently discovered by purchasing one of their books through Kobo. I discovered that the book is no longer sold by Kobo AND no longer accessible in my cloud library, even though I purchased it. The author told me he can’t make a living as a writer unless he sells exclusively through Amazon. Since Amazon only sells their own propitiatory formats, they have effectively limited this author, and I assume many more, to selling their books for Kindle. I would think there has to be something illegal about that.
proprietary, not propitiatory. Stupid spell check.
Not sure if I understand your response. Why can’t the author make the book available on both Amazon (mobi format) and Kobo and B&N (epub format). It is really easy to publish to both formats.
Amazon requires exclusivity but only for titles offered through Kindle Unlimited and KOLL. No one is forcing authors to use it so it’s certainly not illegal. I wanted to offer my Kindle tips and tricks ebook for free through KU and KOLL but couldn’t because a lot the content was posted here too. Amazon is big enough and is already dominating the ebook market so I think it’s all rather unnecessary.
B&N did their best with their own tablets. They need update those models by making them lighter, faster and rootable.
As for ereaders, they should sell Kobo eReaders.
I would most definitely by a new Nook as long as you can get books from the library.
I would definitely buy a new Nook if it was released this year. Especially if the price was competitive.
I owned the first nook, and replaced it with a kindle and never looked back it would be great if Amazon allowed a B&N app in the kindle and please a library app. I didn’t realize until I read it here that kobo offered a built in library I will certainly be looking into that
I would love a new Nook without the bloat ware that is on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A and with more memory.
I personally prefer a larger screen as I want to be able to read books and search the web. I require versatility and that’s why I went with a Samsung built Nook 10.5 first and then got a Pixel C. But I started out with the very ancient Nook 3G with WiFi. I can download my Nook books and read on b&n app as will as Kobo, Amazon and the semi-ever popular Google Books. Just do your research before forking over the money.
I absolutely love my nook. My husband has bought every new style that has come out. I have over 400 books on my current nook. It goes everywhere with my since it fits inyo my purse. Please keep updating this product, it provides competion in the market place.
B&N is bleeding to death in a dying market and no buyers are in sight, on account of the whole dying thing.
Think they’re spending any money on Nook development? No.
If a new Nook is released I HOPE IT WON’T BE WHITE! yUCK!
I am a loyal Nook user, and would definitely consider buying a new Nook, especially if I can read library books on it. My Nook Color is still going strong, except for a couple of glitches.
It would be nice to see a new nook come out with the glowlight feature as well as waterproof, the option of using other book formats with maybe an audio feature.
This is total hearsay, and I know this post is 6+ weeks old as of the time I’m writing this, however…
When I walked into the store, I noticed that the digital section in the center of the store seemed … sparse compared to prior weeks. There were less shelves of tablet and Glowlight Plus accessories, less Android tablets on display, and fewer GLP devices.
I also noticed that their GLP readers were at the back of the section, and only two were on display. Compare this to just 6 months prior, where there were 8 Glowlight Plus devices on display, and GLP accessories everywhere.
Now, there is one shelf of GLP protective covers, two GLP devices on display, one less table with Android tablets, and fewer shelves with tablet accessories
It was noticeable.
A talked with an employee about the severe changes in their e-reader department, and he was confident that B&N is going to pull completely out of digital altogether.
I asked if maybe they were preparing for new devices for the holidays, and mentioned that they’re due for a new e-reader device.
While he agreed that the Nook is in need of an update, he said sales have not been strong for it, he’s heard rumors of pulling out, and he’s never seen the digital section look as sparse for the holidays as it does now.
He also heard rumors that B&N was pulling out of e-readers entirely. They’ll still offer ebooks, but due to market saturation, sluggish sales of their Nook devices, and the success of the Amazon Kindle, he suspects B&N is done with competing in that area.
He told me the reason he thinks the digital section was so sparse, was in preparation of emptying as much of their e-readers as possible, then converting the space back to physical bookshelves for more physical books.
I guess we’ll see, but I think his gut intuition might be right. All they really need to do, is pull out of hardware, and provide apps for mobile devices (Android, iOS, Windows), and continue selling ebooks through their online store. I bet there are better profit margins there, than in hardware.
Awhile back Techcrunch published an article with Riggio saying he was going to kill off the Nook but it was just hearsay with no source and then they deleted the article so that was kind of weird. It’s pretty clear B&N has no interest in Nook anymore, haven’t had any for years. The big question is will they get out of selling ebooks altogether (again).
I would buy one if it was a tad bigger than 6 inches and more responsive. The current one is slow and I have to push hard on the home button
rumor has it they may sell the ebooks to another company like kobo and sell kobos instore
That rumor is illogical. No one would be surprised if B&N drops Nook ereaders but they’re certainly not going to send their ebook customers to some company not even based in the same country that most of their customers have never heard of before. They’ll just keep selling ebooks on tablets and apps instead.
I came to the forum today, looking for “good news” about a potential Nook Glowlight Plus upgrade for this year-2017. As was pointed out, reboots on the product seem to occur every two years, but here I read only doom and gloom. I bought the original Nook, then the 10.1″ Nook HD+ tablet – both fair products in their day (Samsung bloatware notwithstanding). The thing about all these devices is battery longevity (recharging life) and upgraded software technology have improved since then. I would love to see a beautiful, 7″ aluminum body GLP-type device with readable fonts in 300 dpi with even lighting and waterproof qualities. I’ll be the first in line for the new product. Someone, please, give me some good news that they are seriously competing in this market with Amazon. Thanks.