Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of the NOOK
®
HD, NOOK HD+, or NOOK
Simple Touch
™
, Barnes & Noble’s (simply B&N from here on) ebook readers. The
NOOK HD+ and NOOK HD, released in November 2012, are a complete redesign of
the NOOK Tablet
™
and NOOK Color
™
, which debuted September 2011. Both the
NOOK HDs feature high-definition color touch screens. The NOOK Simple Touch,
which first went on sale in June 2011 and was updated in 2012 with GlowLight, fea-
tures an E Ink reading display that bears a remarkable resemblance to paper. The
NOOK HDs resemble a tablet like the iPad or Google Nexus, but B&N has intention-
ally focused it as an ereading device, so although it has apps and video and music,
B&N has designed the NOOK HDs to be readers. This focuses attention on the read-
ing experience of books, newspapers, and magazines while keeping the price down.
The NOOK HDs are an attempt to balance the features of the tablet with the immer-
sive experience of reading. With the high-definition display, you can read text so
clearly that you may think it is better than paper. The NOOK HD+ and NOOK HD
differ in size, but they pack in all the same software and features.
Beyond releasing the new devices, two other related items are worth mentioning.
Since B&N has been releasing ereading devices, the company has never sold video
content. With the release of the NOOK Tablet, it included apps for Netflix and Hulu
Plus, but those services (although great) could not boast as wide a selection as some
would prefer. In addition, you could not purchase and download movies and TV
shows to watch when you have no Internet connection. In November 2012, B&N
released NOOK Video
™
. This service, which debuts on the NOOK HDs and will have
a separate app for laptops and other tablets eventually, will fill in a large gap in
B&N’s offerings compared to other tablets.
The other item is the introduction of profiles. Most tablets and ereading devices are
set up for one person—all content is available to anyone with access to the tablet. But
what if you are a family that shares a device? You may not want your 4 year old to
watch R-rated movies at the touch of a button—or rack up credit card bills by buying
all sorts of content. This is where profiles come in. On the NOOK HDs, up to six pro-
files can be created. Child profiles in particular offer customizable parental controls.
The NOOK Simple Touch is a simple-to-use device slightly bigger than a paperback
book. Because it is not backlit, you can easily read a book in bright sunlight with lit-
tle glare. If you have the NOOK Simple Touch
™
with GlowLight
™
, however, you can
turn on a built-in light that softly illuminates the screen, allowing you to read in dim
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