The Nook HD and Nook HD+ are the third generation of Nook's line of color tablet

e-reader An e-reader, also called an e-book reader or e-book device, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals. Any device that can display text on a screen may act as an e-re ...

/media players by Barnes & Noble for using their copy restricted (DRM) proprietary files, or other files. They are the successors to the

Nook Tablet The Nook Tablet (sometimes styled NOOK Tablet) is a tablet e-reader/media player that was produced and marketed by Barnes & Noble. It followed the Nook Color and was intended to compete with both e-book readers and tablet computers. Barnes & Nob ...

and both were released on November 8, 2012. The 7-inch version, the Nook HD (also styled NOOK HD), is available in two internal memory sizes - 8 GB (US$129) with approximately 5 GB available for user content, and 16 GB (US$149) with about 13 GB available for user content. Memory is expandable via a

microSD card Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDisk ...

(up to 64 GB). The Nook HD is available in two colors: Snow (white) and Smoke (black-grey). A 9-inch version, the Nook HD+ (also styled NOOK HD+), is available with 32 GB ($179) of internal memory. Its memory is also expandable via a

(up to 64 GB). The Nook HD+ is only available in one color, Slate (black-grey). When the devices were first introduced, purchasers of the Nook HD or Nook HD+ received an incentive of a $30 gift card to the Barnes & Noble shop. This expired in February 2013. In May 2013, B&N updated the Nook HD and HD+ to provide full access to the

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...

Store, which allowed users to install apps that were unavailable in the Nook Store. In June 2013, B&N announced they would stop making Nook tablets in-house. Later, B&N changed its mind and said a new Nook tablet would be released. In June 2014, Barnes & Noble announced it would be teaming up with

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

to develop co-branded color tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook featuring Samsung's hardware with 7-inch and 10.1-inch displays and customized Nook software from Barnes & Noble. The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook began to be sold in the US in August 2014.

History

On June 25, 2013, Barnes & Noble announced it:

"is abandoning its Nook tablet hardware business and will instead rely on a 'partnership model for manufacturing in the competitive color tablet market' that will seek third-party manufacturers to build eReaders that run Nook software."

"The company plans to significantly reduce losses in the NOOK segment by limiting risks associated with manufacturing,” Barnes & Noble said in a press release. “Going forward, the company intends to continue to design eReading devices and reading platforms, while creating a partnership model for manufacturing in the competitive color tablet market. Thus, the widely popular lines of Simple Touch and Glowlight products will continue to be developed in house, and the company’s tablet line will be co-branded with yet to be announced third party manufacturers of consumer electronics products. At the same time, the company intends to continue to build its digital catalog, adding thousands of eBooks every week, and launching new NOOK Apps."

On August 20, 2013 CNET reports B&N reversing the decision to eliminate the Color Nook devices:

"The bookseller will continue to design and make Nook color devices, with at least one new Nook set for the holiday season, as its chairman shelves a bid to buy the retail side."

In reporting on Barnes & Noble's June 5, 2014 announcement that the bookseller would be teaming up with Samsung to develop a co-branded tablet, Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, which was released in August 2014.

Modifying the Nook tablet

Rooting

Developers have found means to

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

the device, which provides access to hidden files and settings, making it possible to run apps that require deep access to your file system or make dramatic changes to your device.

Alternate operating systems, Android variants and more

While Nook is a variant of Android (runs the same programs) with a different user interface and bundled software, a more standard variant of Android (

CyanogenMod CyanogenMod ( ; CM) is a discontinued open-source operating system for mobile devices, based on the Android mobile platform. It was developed as free and open-source software based on the official releases of Android by Google, with added origin ...

) is available for the Nook and the smartphone/tablet version of

Ubuntu Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: '' Desktop'', '' Server'', and ''Core'' for Internet of things devices and robots. All th ...

operating system to run applications incompatible with Android. On February 1, 2014, official CyanogenMod 10.2.1 (" Android 4.3 Jelly Bean") was released for the Nook HD and HD+. CyanogenMod versions for Nook HD and Nook HD+ are released for download under the ''hummingbird'' and ''ovation'' codenames respectively. CyanogenMod releases monthly M-builds ("rolling release") and no versions marked "stable" are to be expected after version 11.0 M6 Release ("

Android 4.4.2 KitKat Android KitKat is the codename for the eleventh Android mobile operating system, representing release version 4.4. Unveiled on September 3, 2013, KitKat focused primarily on optimizing the operating system for improved performance on entry-leve ...

"). The latest version (4.4.4) is available for the Nook HD/Nook HD+ as a "SNAPSHOT" and "NIGHTLIES" versions. Since August 2013, a developer preview of

Ubuntu Touch Ubuntu Touch is a mobile version of the Ubuntu operating system, being developed by the UBports community. Its user interface is written in Qt, and is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, ...

13.10 is also available based on the above ''ovation''. Ubuntu Touch can be installed along with Android, allowing dual booting.

File transfer

Transferring a user's files to another computer is possible, provided that the files are not copy restricted by DRM, using the

Media Transfer Protocol The Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) is an extension to the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) communications protocol that allows media files to be transferred automatically to and from portable devices. Whereas PTP was designed for downloading phot ...

(MTP) in supported operating systems.

References