The Nook HD, now available for just £79 for 8GB in the UK, is a nice piece of kit. It’s not cutting edge, but it does the job, its comfortable to read on for long periods, and with the inclusion go Google Play, you can be sneaky and install the Kindle app if you’re locked in to Bezos’ ecosystem.
It is possible to use the Nook HD and Nook HD+ as purely Kindle readers, which does feel a touch subversive as a user, and I did wonder how sales from the Barnes and Noble store have performed since the opening up of the Kindle. Interestingly Managing Director Jim Hilt told me earlier this month that “sales have not been diminished with the inclusion of Google Play.”
Barnes and Noble still has a significant number of apps available through the Nook Store, but having Google Play available should give the switched-on user more confidence to buy a Nook.
If for any reason the Nook ecosystem was switched off, the inclusion of Google Play, and the ability to side load content and apps over the USB cable would mean the tablet would still be usable.
Ewan Spence is a blogger, author and writer based out of Edinburgh, Scotland. In addition to his own blog, he has contributed and contributes to BBC News, BBC Magazine (online), The Stage (UK Arts and Entertainment Newspaper), Computing (VNU), iProng Magazine, IT Pro, O’Reilly’s Make Magazine, Palmtop Magazine, Podcast User Magazine, UK Tech and UK Mobile Blognation, PDA Essentials, Mobile Messaging 2.0 and All About Symbian.
He wrote the book Rapid Mobile Enterprise Development for Symbian OS and has audio program commissions for BBC Radio 5 Live – Through the Night and Pods and Blogs, Computer Outlook Talk Radio Show and Talk 107. He also regularly speaks at and moderates panels at high profile technology conferences around the world.
