Barnes & Noble has just announced a new device that it says will compete with Amazon’s Kindle. The Nook is a tablet-like device that can be used as a reading device or as an e-reader. It has a 7-inch display and is powered by an ARM processor. It also features a built-in microphone and speaker, and can be connected to the internet using an ethernet cable or Wi-Fi.
The main feature is the 6-inch glare-free display, which uses an e-ink panel instead of the typical LCD screens you’d find on most other tablets. It has a pixel density of 212 DPI, which is higher than the regular Kindle (167 DPI), but lower than the $140 Kindle Paperwhite (300 DPI). The higher the DPI, or Dots Per Inch, the fewer pixels you can see. The GlowLight 4e’s rating should be just fine for most people, and since it has an e-ink screen, the battery can last for weeks with regular use. There’s also a backlight for reading in the dark, like most other eReaders.
Barnes & Noble is keeping the classic physical page buttons for the GlowLight 4e, so you can click the buttons on the sides to go back or forward in your book (or just tap the sides of the screen like a Kindle). There’s 8GB of storage, down from 16GB on the regular GlowLight 4, and only around 5GB is available for books. That’s not a massive problem, especially considering most people don’t want to read comics and other image-heavy content on a 6-inch black and white screen, but it’s still a shame there’s no microSD card for adding more storage. You do get a USB Type-C port for charging and copying books, though.
The Nook GlowLight 4e is available for pre-order on Barnes & Noble’s online store, and the release date is set for June 7.
Source: Barnes & Noble
