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Barnes & Noble Adds Google Play Store To the Nook
An anonymous reader writes "When Barnes & Noble first released its Nook tablets, one of the big problems with the devices was that their custom version of Android only had access to the Barnes & Noble app store. They took the 'walled garden' approach, preventing users from accessing Google Play, which had a much larger selection of software and many more options when it came to free apps. Now, the company is reversing that decision. A software update is being rolled out to give the devices access to Google Play. 'The bottom line: if something's available for Android, it's now available for Nook, assuming it's compatible from a technical standpoint. Among other things, that means you'll be able to install Amazon's Kindle app on a Nook and read books you've purchased from Amazon. For the first time, the notion of someone with a heavy investment in Kindle books buying a Nook doesn't sound completely impractical.' The company is gambling that the devices' increased utility will make up for the loss in app revenue. Either way, it's good news for Nook tablet owners."
so long as you can choose to uninstall those google apps if desired.
Our Nook Tablet ran the stock software for nearly a year. It was terrible. I finally gave up on them rolling out a decent update and installed Cyanogenmod back in December.
It is an excellent bit of hardware, but management got in the way of the software. Too little to late; good bye Barnes and Noble
I own an older Nook, having picked it over the Kindle due to the 1985 scandal and Amazon's DRM systems. Also, the Nook supported the eBook lending system my local library used. I'd have gone with Amazon if not for those issues.
However, I always expected the systems to remain rather closed. I'm guessing that Nook is really feeling pressure from 'good enough' tablets and realizing the same problems that occur with also-ran App stores: Achieving critical mass.
Like it or not, an App store has to have a sufficient amount of Developers otherwise you just end up with frustrated users who wonder 'Why don't WE get what THEY have?'. Google Play, while still the second choice for app development, is large enough that no sane developer would just ignore that market. Conversations at an App Developer might never switch to 'Lets develop a commercial App for Android, and then develop it for iOS' (at least for now), but it was going to be very unlikely for that developer to follow up with 'And we MUST make sure it gets on the B&N Nook market'
So I'm pretty glad this is happening, but it was a little late for my family as when I cashed out my bitcoins last month, one of the purchases was an iPad mini. (I still prefer eInk for readers though)
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
I bought a Nook and I bought a Kindle. Both are fine for reading, but neither really lives up to being a tablet. Bought a refurb Nexus 7 and it is tons better than the Nook or Kindle. I wished I had spent the $250 on a Nexus 7 before buying the Nook or KIndle.
Either way, it's good news for Nook tablet owners
I'm sure both of them will be overjoyed.
This update only appears to be for the HD versions anyway.
I added it myself years ago.
Barnes and Noble should have added the Amazon store instead.
I rooted my Nook Simple Touch to make it more like a tablet. That turns it into quite an interesting device. Good for looking at email and reading mostly text stuff online. Haven't quite got a twitter client working yet, but that should work ok too. I'm surprised no one is trying to sell such a device.
Conversations at an App Developer might never switch to 'Lets develop a commercial App for Android, and then develop it for iOS' (at least for now)
At a startup company trying to pull itself up by its bootstraps it might. Consider a tiny company that already has the hardware to develop for Android (non-Apple PC + Android tablet) and plans to use revenue from its first application to buy the $1,100 iOS devkit (Mac mini + iPad + developer license).
I look at a computer screen all day and sometimes cannot be arsed doing it again at home.
I've ordered the Nook Simple Touch and it has 3 killer features for me:
(1) Eink display is great even though it's only 800x600(?) - also means decent battery charge
(2) Has an sd-card slot too - I'll be able to have all my ebooks on it
(3) Can be rooted to enable Google Play (also install a proper PDF viewer too)
They've also dropped the price to £29 in the UK this week and they are selling fast (all shops in my high street have sold out this week).
Alas, it appears only recent versions of their tablets will have the restrictions lifted.
It's a shame really - If they official released a unrestricted Eink-based ebook reader it may improve their sales - they have a successful product in there somewhere.
(Currently an old version of android is installed - eclair and obviously the screen is not designed for games)
Well, with the Play Store on the Nook you can buy books, music, and films from Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, and Google, so that's three choices instead of one. I'd consider that a small improvement.
Of course thanks to DRM that's just three walled gardens, or maybe more descriptively you could say three "content silos", instead of one. So it's not a huge improvement. However, the villains here are not Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Google. If they didn't use DRM on content, the content owners (movie companies, music companies, book companies) would not allow them to sell their content. There are other reasons to dislike B&N, Amazon, and Google, but in this case we should be directing our ire at the MPAA and RIAA and spending our efforts and money on public domain and creative commons license content.
as people began to suddenly realize Amazon E-Books were actually more of a liability than their paper books, Amazon had to invent a new strategy to push them. Making them compatible with angry birds is a start, but its hard to avoid the fact you're just making an underpowered tablet now as opposed to an e-reader.
Good people go to bed earlier.
But the magazines in play store looks expensive. They seem to be asking for the rack rate and it is far cheaper to get the ink-smeared-dead-tree version than the cyber version. What gives? May be I am not looking at the right locations.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
In a year or two, I'll get a replacement for my $100 archos tablet. By then I expect tabs will mostly all be cheap, dual booting pieces of tech, rivalling desktop computers in capability, with large storage/ memory/ battery and fast cpu's. Barnes & Noble will be another app to download to them.
That'll save me the hassle of having to manually update the unsupported Cyanogenmod fork for the Nook HD
I like the Nook tablets because they provide me with a functional, Google-free Android device (and because they're actually really good tablets for my purposes). If I have to link my Nook to a Google account, it looks like I'll have to take my tin foil hat elsewhere.
No points today, but +1 insightful if I did have 'em.
Also, is this an issue with BN or with Google. It is my understanding that Google Play is one of the closed source features that Google uses to keep control over the Android platform. An OEM either does what Google says or it is not allowed to play all the reindeer games.
I have Kindle Fire and have had no issues getting the Apps I want from Amazon. Unlike my other devices, I mostly have free Apps on the Fire, and have filled it up to the point where I have to delete the Apps I never use.I dare say that the my issue with Nook is merely that I got fire refurbished for a much lower price. Access to content did also play a role, but it was Amazon content not Google.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Nook to Android (N2A) has a bootable MicroSD card that already allows this but it's nice BN finally figured it out.
The nook HD+ now looks pretty interesting. I like the google apps, but could live with the nook launcher (or install a new one off google play?)
$270 for a 9-inch tablet with access to google apps is pretty compelling.
They're trying.
I feel for them. I really do... I hope they can carve out a lasting niche for themselves in the evolving ebook retail world.
This move was good... it showed boldness. B&N will need to be bold to survive.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
About 6 months ago at a reasonably major London Android convention which B&N heavily sponsored, they had a workshop on why their app store was better for your app (more women, higher average price paid). They then ruined their argument by taking us through the registration process which required a US tax number before it would let you publish anything. At that point the room guffawed and a few people (including me) walked out to go see something more interesting and less insulting.
Hint: if you're trying to woo developers to your niche product, don't require them to have to register on another country's tax system.
I enjoyed my 1st gen Nook Color, but I rooted it a month after getting it and kept it that way, with the play store, etc, for over a year. But when the Nexus 7 came out I jumped ship for the "full" ICS experience. It wasn't the lack of the Play store, or the other restrictions that led me to switch... it was the underpowered hardware and the old version of Android.
If they had made this change 6 months ago, before I bought my Nexus, I might have reconsidered. But honestly I think Google's offering is a better choice. The only advantage the Nook has now IMO is the ability to read enhanced eBooks that the generic android nook reader can't. And I only have one of those, which I ripped and converted with some utility so I could still access the content.
I don't think 'walled garden' and DRM are pertinent to this topic for two reasons. First, most slashdotters are knowledgeable enough to install things like ignobleepub plug-ins into Calibre and be off & running. Second, unless you buy a reader that doesn't allow side-loading (if there still is such a beast), there's Gutenberg for free stuff and several third-party ebook vendors who sell nonDRM ebooks.
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
It should be noted, since the Soulskill didn't, that this update is ONLY for the newer HD series tablets.
Existing owners of older, and even the new lesser, tablets need not apply.
I'm still really pissed at B&N over this. "Oh, you'll be able to install anything you want on it."
So I bought one as a gift and immediately downloaded some apks (notably a decent browser).
Then they came out with that damn update that locked the Fucker down.
I can't even apply updates to the installed Opera browser. Without wiping/cryogenning the fucker.
Never again will B&N trick me into buying into their locked down hardware. My cheap, unlocked, rooted, Chinese Tablets work just fine.
When they become old, useless or die (from being prison made hacks), I'll discard them and still be better off price and content wise.
...installing Kindle for Android....
.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
We bought a Nabi 2 tablet for our 8 year old as a replacement for a cheap low end and quickly broken tablet. I just assumed it worked with google play but didnt look into it before we bought it. Turns out it wont unless it's rooted, although you 'can' install it from an apk it wont work. They have their own app site they want you to rebuy all your apps from. That was kind of a pain since we already had bought a bunch of games and apps from google over the years. So I end up downloaded apk's from a pirate site, rather than pay again for apps I already own.
In order to do that you have to root your device, though. I'll do that for my tablet once I get one, but for now I'm just asked to advise friends and family on purchases. In the past I would steer them towards stock Android so they could buy from anyone they want (except, as far as I know, Apple). Now the Nook becomes an option.
It's hard to tell people they need to "root" their phones to run F-Droid:
http://f-droid.org
And it's particularly unfortunate in light of the fairly dire need for open source apps to get popularized on phones. Much less risk of malware.
expandfairuse.org
I was in a B&N store a few months ago and I overheard a conversation between a sales clerk and an older couple that went like this:
Customer: "So I can run apps on this?"
Sales clerk: "No, this is just for reading books."
Customer: "Oh, okay" and they walk away.
B&N has fixed that problem. That's a good thing.
O, what a great day! The sun has come out and the birds are singing! No more auto-rejection from B&N's stupid submission process. I hated B&N so passionately that I actually recommended to someone paying me good money to port an app to the Nook to just drop the Nook and save the headaches. My app triggered a platform bug in the original Nook fork of Android, and their brain-dead outsourced approval process always rejected it, I always had to open a support ticket, I always pasted in the same exception, and they always approved it and closed the ticket without even acknowledging it was a platform bug. How unfriendly can you get? It was like their brain-dead customer service process, only for developers. I love this news!!!
They did it that way because their corporate is in the USA and they, unlike Google and many others, pay their US taxes. Their app store, etc is all hosted in the USA, and whenever an app is sold, they have to pay US tax on it, not UK or France, or Germany.
@Mindless Drivel: 100% of Twitter posts ever Tweeted.
They did it that way because their corporate is in the USA and they, unlike Google and many others, pay their US taxes. Their app store, etc is all hosted in the USA, and whenever an app is sold, they have to pay US tax on it, not UK or France, or Germany.
The standard way for multinationals to do business in foreign countries is to set up a subsidiary in that country. Operating like this means *everyone in their store* has to operate under US tax.