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Nook Ebook Reader: Dec 11th?

Posted by Zealot on November 8, 2009 – 3:33 am  Share

Nook A very reliable tipster informed me today that a B&N store employee was asked some questions about the Nook this weekend. Apparently she claimed that the built in WiFi on the Ebook Reader will only be able to connect with AT&T hotspots. This seems to me like pure nonsense, and I have seen B&N reps online stating that you can access your eBook library from anywhere internationally via WiFi, not just AT&T service areas. The only problems come up in trying to BUY books from B&N internationally (translation, you can’t). Is it even technically possible to spike the WiFi so it only accesses a single carrier? Anyway, if it IS possible and they do it, considering that the device is running Android, I imagine that little restriction will be hacked away an hour or so after release. Maybe less.

More interestingly is the fact that the sales person said the Nook will be in her store (a major branch in California) on Dec 11th. Now THAT is a new date, since the last I heard Barnes and Noble were sticking to their “end of November” date. Some people on the B&N forum had been saying stores were saying Dec 9th, now the 11th? Can we expect the date to continue slipping? Is this a problem in meeting demand?

Anyway, until we find out what is happening with the Spring Designs lawsuit, I wouldn’t consider any release date for the Nook to be set in stone but I think it is safe to assume no one will be getting their grimy mitts on a Nook in November.

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By day a department manager and writer for a major network device vendor...by night Zealot stalks the mean magnetic streets, striking fear into the hearts of bandwidth abusers and theme park mascots. Zealot has been involved with mobile devices for more than a decade now, starting off with dumb phones, moving to PDAs and then to smartphones, notebooks and netbooks with the odd PMP thrown in. Most of his mobile time currently is spent on a Treo Pro, Zune HD, Thinkpad T61, Gigabyte M912M or a Hackintoshed Compaq Mini 704. He proudly groks the Geek community and considers himself a Neo Maxi Zune Dweebie (thanks Will Wheaton!).


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  • I thinking "spiking" WiFi would be easy. The simple way would be to only connect to hotspots with a specific encryption key that was hardcoded into the device. Another way would be to keep a database of MAC IDs and only allow connection with those.

    I don't know why anybody would shoot themselves in the foot like that, though. If I couldn't get cellular service in my area but had a WiFi network, that would essentially prevent me from buying or downloading new books. I can't imagine anybody would be that stupid.

    doogald's comment seems much more reasonable -- and likely.

    Steve
  • From what I read at the introduction, WiFi is not limited to AT&T hotspots - it's limited to Barnes & Noble stores, period. In fact, B&N people said this directly.

    However, they have since corrected this. Nooks will connect automatically at B&N stores; they will also connect at any 802.11 B/G compatible access point where you know the SSID and the WEP or WPA password. It will not, however, allow access at any public hotspot that proxies access through a login first page, as I often see at hotels.

    See http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/eBooks-H...
  • Kevin
    It will still be released on 11/30, but with the extreme interest in the device as seen with their pre-orders, they are no longer able to guarantee the new orders will arrive by then. They are shipping older orders first. Seems like a regular occurrence with a hot new gadget these days. My father was calling iphone vendors in his area for over 2 months to get the 3GS. About connectivity, if you check the nook website www.barnesandnoble.com/nook it tells you, "free 2G - 3.5G wireless technology and Wi-Fi connectivity." Should be just fine on any wifi from what I've heard.
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