NOOK For Dummies

By Corey Sandler

NOOK For Dummies provides readers with all the information they need in order to get the most out of their NOOK e-reader.

Key topics covered include:

• Introducing the ebook and e-reader concept
• Navigating the technical aspects of The NOOK including touchscreen technology, wireless access, software updates
• Downloading and shopping for e-books
• Listening to music on your NOOK
• Powering the NOOK
• Formats
• Reading an e-book on an e-reader, including lighting, font adjustments, and so on
• Using the Android-based applications that come with the NOOK
• Listening to audio books on the NOOK
• Creating your own ebooks
• Personalizing the NOOK, including accessories (B&N expects a strong revenue stream from what they call the "NOOK Eco-System," which will include the accessories, personalizations, applications, and more)
• Sharing books on The NOOK
• Internet Resources
• 10 Things Other Than A Book to Keep on Your NOOK

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Feb 8, 2011
• ISBN: 9781118057827

Corey Sandler

Corey Sandler, considered one of the pioneers of computer journalism, was the first Executive Editor of PC Magazine and one of the founding editors of several other national publications. He has written more than 200 books on computer, business, history, sports, and travel topics. 

Book preview

Introduction

I predict that, in the short term, the world of readers (the human variety) will consist of those who fall into one of two tribes of bibliophiles:

check.png Woe is me, and can I buy three? This would be those who bemoan the dwindling away of books printed with ink on paper but who grudgingly admit how convenient it is to walk around with their entire library encased in a device like the NOOK, or

check.png The medium is the message, and I get the message. It’s not that the words are bound up in printed piles of dead trees that makes a book worthy, it’s the ideas and the dreams and the art that they convey.

Actually, there is a third group and it begins with me:

check.png I want the best of both worlds: a massive leatherbound gold-embossed deckle-edged book when it pleases me, and portable electronic reading matter when I move about from place to place. I love reading and I love books and I am enthralled with new technology. I never expect to stop collecting the printed word or give up my personal library. But I am now very happy to be able to pack a few books and periodicals inside something that fits in a pocket.

About This Book

This book was created specifically as an electronic book: no trees were sacrificed in its creation. NOOK For Dummies follows the same proven formula of the other For Dummies books. It is meant for people who are smart enough to know they could use a bit of extra explanation, tips, and hints to get the most out of their new device. And also for people who enjoy a bit of humor, or at least light-hearted writing, as they boldly go where they have not gone before.

You can start at the beginning and read through to the end, or you can jump from chapter to chapter with a few well-chosen clicks. You can even read it from back to front.

remember.eps One important note: there are two versions of the NOOK.

check.png One is called the NOOK WiFi, and it includes a tiny radio receiver and transmitter that allows it to communicate with hotspots in homes, offices, and public places including some stores, cafés, and libraries. With this model, you need to find a WiFi connection (and in some cases get permission to use it) in order to purchase and download reading material and browse the Web.

check.png The second version is called the NOOK 3G+WiFi, and it has the same features and requirements as the first model but also adds a 3G radio system which allows data (not voice) communication using a specific cellular network. The 3G model will help users who do not have easy access to WiFi, although it has limitations: the cell service cannot browse the Web or download some very large books or periodicals.

remember.eps In this book, I refer to the NOOK or the NOOK WiFi anytime the material refers to features present on both models. In only a few places — all related to wireless communication — I make a distinction between the WiFi-only model and the 3G+WiFi model.

Conventions Used in This Book

You’ll need no special instruction to make your way through the book. I use standard book style to help make certain bits of information easier to find and simpler to use:

check.png Numbered lists: Start at number 1 and proceed to the last one in the list, in order, to accomplish a particular task.

check.png Bulleted lists: Bulleted lists (you’re in the middle of one right now) represent things you should know about or do, but that do not demand being performed in a particular order.

check.png Web addresses: The NOOK includes a Web browser with basic access to the Internet. Although you can use the reader’s browser to visit some of the Web addresses I mention in the book (as well as general sites), you can’t download files directly to the eReader. For that you have to use your laptop or personal computer.

Foolish Assumptions

This book is not intended as a buying guide, nor is it going to go into a great deal of detail about how to turn on the NOOK and perform the very simple setup and registration steps it requires. They’re all presented right there on the screen and in the quick start guide that comes with the device.

I assume that you have a NOOK in your hands and are reading this text on its screen. I also assume that you have access to a personal computer, that it has access to the Internet, and that you have at least a basic understanding of how to get about on the Internet. You can make your connection to that computer using the USB cable supplied with the NOOK.

Icons Used in This Book

NOOK For Dummies uses a handful of special graphic elements called icons to get your attention. Here they are:

warning_bomb.eps Here be dragons. Watch out. Be careful.

remember.eps In case you missed something earlier on, here’s a reminder of important stuff.

tip.eps Let me tell you something you might not realize about how to use your NOOK.

How This Book Is Organized

In Chapter 1 I give you a guided tour of the NOOK and describe the gestures you can use on its touchscreen to navigate through menus, books, and Websites. Chapter 2 explains how to read a book on an eReader. In Chapter 3, you go shopping and hunting for books and other publications. I explain the basics of using an online eBookstore and free digital libraries. I also show how to convert your own files and bring them to the NOOK. Chapter 4 is where you read about setting up a WiFi link, using the built-in Web browser, and making the connection to e-mail and social media. And in Chapter 5 you come to the famed Part of Tens, where you get tips and tricks to get the most out of your NOOK.

Where to Go from Here

You go reading, of course. And you go out of the house and take your book collection with you. You go on planes, trains, and automobiles (as long as you’re not the pilot, engineer, or driver). And you enjoy this newest version of a way to present one of humankind’s greatest inventions: the written word.

Chapter 1

Knowing Your NOOK

A NOOK isn’t just a secluded corner or a hidden spot, although Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary might tell you so. It isn’t a slightly rude gesture of British origin (thumbing your nose in defiance, also known as cocking a snook). Plus, making the gesture won’t get you Consumer Reports automatically delivered each month. And of course, it has nothing whatsoever to do with human intimacy. Although you could fill up the NOOK with love poems.

What you have here is the NOOK Reader’s Tablet (one of its official titles from its maker, Barnes & Noble, Inc). In this book, I explain how to get the most from the NOOK 3G+WiFi or the NOOK WiFi model, the black-and-white E Ink version of the device. If instead you are looking for explication and exploration of the multicolor touchscreen version of the device, there is a different book for you: NOOKcolor For Dummies. Though the NOOK and the NOOKcolor are cousins, they aren’t identical in appearance or operating system.

The NOOK can download and store hundreds or even thousands of full-length books, magazines, newspapers, and other publications. This very same NOOK electronic reader can then display the material a page at a time, on a sharp screen roughly the size of a paperback book, using a technology called E Ink. which comes pretty close to mimicking black ink on white paper.

Explaining the 3G

Let me explain the difference between these two models:

check.png NOOK WiFi. This device can connect to WiFi networks in your home or office or public hotspots (coffee shops and the like). The plastic frame around the front and the back of the device are a creamy white color.

check.png NOOK 3G+WiFi. This version adds the ability to also connect to the B&N Fast & Free Wireless network (operated by AT&T). The 3G feature allows you to shop at the B&N store, but doesn’t permit access to the Web over the cellular network. The plastic frame around the front is a creamy white color, while the back of the device is slate gray.

The two models are otherwise identical. In this book any description or suggestion refers to both the NOOK WiFi and the NOOK 3G+WiFi unless I specifically single out the 3G model, and that will come only in sections about wireless connectivity.

tip.eps Hold on to the neat little box that once held your untouched NOOK. If (heaven forbid) you should ever have to send in the device for warranty service, this is premade packaging for the purpose. And if you choose to someday regift your eReader to someone else and upgrade to the next wondrous model, it will look so much more impressive if it arrives in its original packaging.

Laying Hands on the NOOK

All of the following descriptions are based on looking at the NOOK lying on its back with the logo at the top and the Barnes & Noble name at the bottom.

9781118057827-un0101.eps

The left and right sides

Aren’t they handsome? Home to nothing of importance. Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

The top

remember.eps Here you will find a powerful button. In fact it is so powerful and so important that it’s all by itself. It is, in fact, the power button. When the unit is off, press and hold the silver button once and release it to turn it on; it takes a few seconds to go through the mental gymnastics to come to life. To turn off your NOOK, press and hold the little rectangular button for about five seconds or so. (One Mississippi, two Mississippi. . . ) The screens (both of them) will go completely blank, which is how you can know that the device is off and not just sleeping.

Or if you just press the button and immediately release it, your NOOK will enter into Sleep mode. The advantage is that the NOOK will stop