Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

[gegs]

I visited the Blackwell's bookshop in Edinburgh today to buy a birthday card; I walked out with the card AND a Nook Simple Touch e-reader. They're on offer at £29 at the moment (RRP £79, although I doubt they will ever go up to that price again after the offer expires). Argos apparently have them for the same price. It has 2 gig on-board storage and a micro SD slot that accepts cards up to 32 gig.

The best news is that the Nook Simple Touch runs a modified version of Android 2.1 and can supposedly be rooted. After rooting you can have access to, among other things, Google Play, your emails, a web browser and (rather perversely) the Kindle app, which means you're not tied to one e-book retailer.

I've not opened it yet because it's a present for my wife, so I don't know what firmware it runs. The following link describes how to root the device for FW 1.2.0 and 1.2.1 and also has links to other apps to make it more useful (like adding Google Play)

http://www.babblingengineer.com/how-to/ ... r-monster/

[dwl99]

I hacked my daughter's Nook Simple Touch at Xmas. There were a few anxious moments when I accidentally erased the flash memory when I was using Win32diskimager & didn't realise it was still connected but it's almost impossible to brick. It's quite limited in what it will do but it's all good fun!

[ilovemyjoggler]

dwl99, as you have one in use at home already, can you please tell me whether this has any visibility in the dark - where I do almost all my reading! I know there is a slightly newer model with backlighting but that one's not being sold for £29! tia.

[dwl99]

It's as visible as a normal book. You can always get a clip on light on ebay for a couple of quid.

[gegs]

dwl99, as you have one in use at home already, can you please tell me whether this has any visibility in the dark - where I do almost all my reading! I know there is a slightly newer model with backlighting but that one's not being sold for £29! tia.

I think you asked and answered your own question in the same post

Yes, the Simple Touch Glowlight costs £69 but in other respects is exactly the same device and is equally hackable. It's edge lighting rather than backlighting and probably not worth the extra dosh.

How do you read in the dark at the moment? I picture you sitting up in bed reading the latest Henning Mankell with a pair of Splinter Cell night-vision goggles on.

[ilovemyjoggler]

I think you asked and answered your own question in the same post

That's why I included the word 'any'. The images show a very white background so I thought you might be able to see a little something in the dark!

How do you read in the dark at the moment? I picture you sitting up in bed reading the latest Henning Mankell with a pair of Splinter Cell night-vision goggles on.

How funny! Nothing as exciting as that I'm afraid... just my iphone. Small screen but epub, kindle and pdf are all on there - I can be reading for hours before I start to nod off when the sound of my phone hitting the floor as it drops out of my hand wakes me up again.

[gegs]

Having bought a Nook Simple Touch for my wife, I thought it was way too much of a bargain to let slip (especially after reading about its hackability) so I've just gone back to Blackwells and bought another for myself. I might have to keep both devices hidden until late July though; I don't want to spoil the surprise for my wife's birthday by flaunting mine (the Nook, that is).

[pete]

Very nice Gegs!

Yup; here I tried reading a book with a tablet before going to bed one night.

A bit more involved with the WAF et al etc; I started to drift and reading other stuff and writing to forums et al...so I went back to my regular books; still regular sized but regular print (age thing) using my small reading lamp next to the bed.

Some one did send me a 4" Android; dual core 1.2Ghz mini tablet to play with. Its really fast and small; cellular phone sized with a capacitance screen. My son has kept up with the newest and fastest little cell phones. I have noticed though even with the most current tablet versions of android there are many pieces of the phone left in the operating system that seem to not go away.

[hawsey]

Damm you geggs I just ordered one from Blackwells online 31.50 pounds thanks for the heads up.
Let the hacking begin .......

[gegs]

Well curiosity got the better of me and I opened my Nook and rooted it when my wife went to bed early. It works brilliantly! It's great to have Nook and Kindle capability on the same device. I tried the Kobo app but I couldn't customize it by changing line-spacing and font sizes so I deleted it. Other people on Nook forums have reported success though, so maybe there's a custom apk somewhere that does work well.

Installing Google Play is a separate process from rooting; I think there's a link to instructions from the web page mentioned in my original post. Be mindful that you have to install the Searchmarket app to look for things on Google Play; its own search facility doesn't work on the Nook.

Some Android developers have stopped support for 2.1 so you may not find some apps you're looking for on Google Play. Google Search is your friend in this respect but most useful search results point to the XDA Developers site anyway. The Nook Touch forum link on xda-devs is:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1198

Be mindful that lots of apps won't run on the Kindle. Look up compatibility lists to see what works. A very useful feature is the ability to install Overdrive (custom apk from xda-devs I think), which means you can borrow books from local libraries that support e-lending; most libraries that do may also have Kindle and Epub versions too.

[dwl99]

I assume that you know that Calibre is a must-have for organising & converting your digital library. One handy feature is its ability to remove the DRM from downloaded library books

[ilovemyjoggler]

Well curiosity got the better of me and I opened my Nook and rooted it when my wife went to bed early.

I was wondering how long you'd be able to resist playing with your new toy.

[gegs]

I was wondering how long you'd be able to resist playing with your new toy.

You know me too darn well.

[hawsey]

Arghh despatch date for my Nook from Blackwells online was today but when I got no confirmation email today I looked at my order and its now saying estimated despatch 27 th !!
hope they haven't took my money and had no stock !
ho hum ....
was dead excited to get it too .
I think there are some Raspberry pi related things people are doing with these too .

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

[Leonardo]

Me too I bought it! Thanks to a friend in UK I'll have my Nook soon

[roobarb!]

Tempted. I love E-ink displays...

[Leonardo]

Get it, 29 Pounds is really a cheap price!

[gegs]

I've just bought a third! I decided it would be a good gift for my son for Christmas.

It really is rather good. If buying though, please bear in mind that it is an e-book reader first and foremost. Once rooted, the Android apps that work best are those primarily to do with reading text; Gmail, Opera Mini and Mobile, Kindle, FBReader, Moon+ Reader, Aldiko, Cool Reader, Comic Rack etc. I couldn't find a Yahoo Mail app that supports Android 2.1 but it's easy to check Yahoo emails using Opera. There is also a Dropbox app which is great for file transfer to the Nook. I add Epub books to Dropbox from Gutenberg.org and I can install them on the Nook without having to use a micro USB cable. The best thing is not being tied to one device. I can use it as a Nook or a Kindle.

It doesn't have audio or "text-to-speech" like a Kindle, so if this is important to you, you'll need to shell out an extra £40 for the basic Kindle model.

[hawsey]

Still messing with my order , think it was my fault mind , I paid via paypal through topcashback to get an extra bit off the price and it should have been 31.50 but I only had 31.20 in my paypal so I transferred the money back to my current account but it went AwOL for a few hours today , I have just finally re submitted my details to Blackwells so fingers crossed .
turning a bit of a saga this Nook lol

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

[gegs]

I tried the Kobo app but I couldn't customize it by changing line-spacing and font sizes so I deleted it.

I know, it's a bad habit quoting oneself...

Just to let folks know I found a link to a working version of the Kobo app. I now have Nook, Kindle and Kobo functionality on the one cheap device (plus quite a few other things).

Some people have viewed this as a fire sale for a poorly performing device (in market terms), much like the Joggler in fact. I think B&N have been very shrewd and have used the Simple Touch as a loss leader to help break the stranglehold of the Kindle. It's sold out almost everywhere and the reviews from users have been hugely positive. Word-of-mouth is very powerful when it comes to tech sales ("I've got one of those and they're great"). They've also opened up their colour devices to Google Play so they are essentially Android tablets rather than just ebook readers. Although they don't have a camera, they do have sound (unlike the Simple Touch) and beautiful hi-res screens. The microphone, however, is limited to a few apps and no Skype calls. They better get that sorted!

More power to Barnes & Noble's elbow in their attempts to take a chunk out of Amazon. At least B&N also operate real "bricks and mortar" bookstores too.