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 reader or e device, is a Mobile computing, mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and Periodical literature, periodicals. Any device that can display text on ...

/media players by

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

for using their copy restricted (DRM) proprietary files, or other files. They are the successors to the Nook Tablet 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 (SD) is a proprietary hardware, proprietary, non-volatile memory, non-volatile, flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA). Owing to their compact size, SD cards have been widely adopted in a variety of port ...

(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).

History

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, Barnes & Noble updated the Nook HD and HD+ to provide full access to the

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

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

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

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. In March 2024, Barnes & Noble, decided that, starting in June, it would shut down the ability to log into a new Barnes & Noble or Nook account for Nook devices older than 2013.

Modifying the Nook tablet

Rooting

Developers have found means to

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, 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 bel ...

the device, which provides access to hidden files and settings, making it possible to run apps that require deep access to the file system or make dramatic changes to the 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) is available for the Nook and the smartphone/tablet version of

Ubuntu Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed primarily of free and open-source software. Developed by the British company Canonical (company), Canonical and a community of contributors under a Meritocracy, meritocratic gover ...

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"). 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, 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. Howev ...

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. While technically "available" on Windows 10, ...

(MTP) in supported operating systems.

References