Netflix Inc. will be pre-installed on the new Nook Tablet announced Monday by Barnes & Noble Inc., making it simple for Netflix subscribers to watch movies and TV shows on their device. As part of the deal, Barnes & Noble will promote the Netflix application in its stores and through various other marketing activities in the buildup to the holiday gift-giving season, with non-subscribers being offered a free 30-day trial. Nook Color owners will be able to download the Netflix application if they choose.
Hulu Plus and Pandora also come pre-installed on the Nook Tablet, which costs $249. The device also supports the new Nook Comics, Nook Newsstand for magazine and news publications, Rhapsody, Grooveshark, MOG, and thousands of other apps, along with web browsing and email. It is available for preorder now, and will arrive in stores and homes on or about November 17.
Additionally, Flixter with UltraViolet, the cloud-based locker system for purchased movies and television from Warner Bros. and other leading studios, will become available for the new device in the near future.
“We are thrilled to offer the Netflix service on the Barnes & Noble Nook for the first time,” said Bill Holmes, Netflix vice president of business development. “We believe that many Netflix members are also Nook users, and now they can use the device they embraced for reading to instantly watch movies and TV episodes streaming from Netflix.”
Barnes & Noble also enhanced its other models, and dropped the price of the Nook Color to $199 and the Nook Simple Touch $99, without the advertising that Amazon puts on its lower priced Kindles.
“In Nook Tablet, we’ve created the best wireless media tablet in the portable 7-inch class. Nook Tablet’s VividView display has been designed to be the world’s finest screen for readability and viewing content,” said William Lynch, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble (pictured, holding the Nook Tablet). “We’ve utilized that breakthrough display technology to bring consumers the largest digital catalog of color and interactive books, magazines, children’s books and high-quality apps through our Nook Store. Additionally, we’ve seamlessly integrated today’s top entertainment services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Pandora in a product that’s powerful, easy-to-use, under a pound, and a tremendous value at only $249.”
Related links:
If I stream a movie on Netflix, do I have to be on Wifi to watch it?
Yes, you need to be on a wi-fi connection to use Netflix or any other streaming service. For downloaded content – like books, magazines, photos etc. – the Nook Tablet has 16 GB of built-in memory with the option to add another 32 GB of memory via a microSD card. That’s significantly more than the Amazon Fire, if it matters to you.
Nook Tablet is $224 if sign up for Barnes & Noble membership. E-Ink Nook Simpletouch at $99 (without ads) has twice the battery life of Kindle Touch, faster page turns than Kindle Touch, 80% less flashing on page turns than Kindle touch, and microSD card slot to expand capacity that neither Kindle has.
Nook Tablet is clearly the superior device over Kindle Fire. Not just 11.5 hours battery life but 9 hours of video playback time – that’s vs. 8 hours for reading and 7.5 hours of video playback on Kindle Fire (even that 7.5 hours will not hold true in tests, video playback drains battery much more than reading)
1 GB RAM Vs. 512 MB RAM of Kindle Fire, 16 GB content capacity plus 32 GB via microSD card vs. 8 GB capacity of Kindle Fire with no expansion slot. Fully laminated HD screen for reduced glare vs. no lamination of Kindle Fire. Bulit-in and optimized Netflix and Hulu plus with millions of movies/shows vs. 100K movies/shows of Amazon store. Nook Tablet has built-in mic for Skype voice conferencing and dictations to speech recognition software. Nook already has Cloud as all eBooks in your online library are stored there as well as downloaded to your device. For streaming movies and shows it has Netflix and Hulu Clouds. Twice better device – in both technical specifications and content offering.
For most people who are not familiar with tablet, both Nook and Kindle Fire are good choice. However, they’re both closed system (a customized Android) and limit their usage. Kindle Fire will be the winner for the mass market for sure, since most people don’t care much about the tech spec. difference.
I have the original Nook Color I purchased last year. Will there be software that I can buy to receive Netflix on it?
Yes, both companies have said there will be a Netflix app for the original Nook Color.
Other Netflix apps are free so there’s a good chance the Nook Color one will be too.
I haven’t heard when it is set for release, though.
If you want more definitive information, you could try sending a tweet to @Netflixhelps – the team answering that Twitter account seem to be pretty responsive.
They also have a help/inquiries phone number – 1-888-811-1933
Can you download and save movies to the Nook? We are not always in a Wi-Fi area.
No, you can only stream movies to it. Some tech sites are saying you can download a movie from your computer on to the SD card and watch it that way, but users are warning that the Nook will only recognize 1 GB of personal content. Nobody here has a Nook (yet) so we don’t know for sure.
If you’re into geeky tinkering, you can look up “sideloading movies to the Nook.” You don’t need to root your device, so ignore any approach that suggests doing that.
Remember that the device only supports 3gp, 3g2, mp4, m4v; MPEG-4 Simple Profile up to 854×480; H.263 up to 352×288; and H.264 Baseline profile up to 854×480. It will NOT support AVI, MKV, Flash, Xvid and a few other common formats.
Hope that helps!
Just got a Nook Tablet, and loaded my Netflix info, black screen 🙁 ..anyone else had a similar problem?
None of us here has a Nook Tablet, but we know there were some problems with Netflix on a previous version of the Nook Tablet software. Even though yours is new, it may still need updating.
Look here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Software-Updates-NOOK-Tablet/379003187/
If that’s not it, and assuming you can access your network with other apps, your best bet is to take it in to Barnes & Noble. They usually have at least one person there who is qualified to do tech support.
I’ve been having this same problem just the last 2 days; been using Netflix without trouble since Christmas. Called Netflix support tonight and they were unable to help and told me to try B&N support. I haven’t had a chance to do that yet. Have you resolved this problem?
Netflix is not pre-installed. Pandora is. I would have to enter a credit card if I want the Netflix app. For Pandora it was already installed. Not to happy since I was under the impression that Netlix is not.
Where is the best place to get one if you dont have a barns in noble near you?
There are many online retailers selling the Nook, including Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook/379003208
Amazon also carries it.
If you prefer to buy in person, try Best Buy or a large office supply store – Staples, Office Max and Office Depot all carry them around where we are. Hope that helps.