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Home»BlackBerry Software»News & Rumors, BlackBerry Apps

Barnes & Noble slowly phasing out support of BlackBerry eReader

by Bla1ze on 3 Oct 2011 08:20 PM
39
 
Barnes & Noble

Some upsetting news for those of you out there who make use of the Barnes & Noble eReader app for BlackBerry. If not received it as of yet, an email from Barnes & Noble will be arriving soon letting you of some changes coming to the application. That's my (and their) nice way of saying they're slowly phasing out support for the app after having not update in forever. As the email states:

We are writing to inform you about important changes being made to the BN eReader software for BlackBerry. Changes to the BN eReader software will directly affect how you purchase and access your digital content from Barnes & Noble. As a BlackBerry owner, you will experience some changes when reading, purchasing and downloading titles on your device.

Please review the following specific changes to BN eReader software for BlackBerry:

  • As of October 5, 2011 only previously purchased B&N digital content will remain accessible and available on your device.
  • As of October 5, 2011, you will not be able to purchase and download new B&N digital content on your BlackBerry device via the BN eReader software for BlackBerry. All newly purchased B&N digital content must be sideloaded onto your BlackBerry.* (See below for further instruction)
  • Beginning January 1, 2012, BN eReader software for BlackBerry will no longer allow you to download any new and/or archived B&N digital content directly to your device. All new and archived B&N digital content must be sideloaded on your BlackBerry device.
  • After December 31, 2011, previously purchased B&N digital content that has already been downloaded and/or sideloaded on your BlackBerry device will remain accessible and available to you on your device.

We value your patronage and apologize for any inconvenience. If you have questions, or require further assistance, please contact us at 1-800-THE-BOOK (1-800-843-2665) and select option 2 for NOOK support.

All that said, if you have Barnes & Noble content you'll want to make sure you adapt to the new changes being made. Though, we certainly suggest you all let Barnes & Noble know how you feel about those changes as well.

Thanks, Jessica!

Filed Under: News & Rumors, BlackBerry Apps; Tags: Barnes & Noble
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39 Comments

Posted by southlander Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Starbucks too -- dropping support. Sucks.

 
 
Posted by papped Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Guess they want the money to go to competitors...

 
 
Posted by Kingkracker Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Works for me, I dropped them already. :)

 
 
Posted by smertz Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Kobo, works on pb and bb.

 
 
Posted by streak81 Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

With the OverDrive app you can get free ebooks and audiobooks from the library...and it does epub, so you can get ebooks from gutenberg or feedbooks.

 
 
Posted by JREwing Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

I have a first generation Nook. The next ereader will be a Kindle. Barnes and Noble hates Blackberries.

 
 
Posted by D_shak Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

I sent them a poison pen letter to let them know what I think of it and them.

 
 
Posted by trureader Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

My BlackBerry is my only internet connection. For many months now I have been unable to access the B&N website. Repeated calls to B&N customer support made on my behalf by store personel have resulted in little more than a "huh?"

The store manager has commented that he would like for me to work there because of my extensive knowledge of,and passion for the Nook. He knows that my severly dislexic husband has only been able to read on the small screen of his BlackBerry.

I think that I will get B&N's attention by standing at the Nook desk and loudly announcing that "I wish I would have bought a Kindle"

B&N has NEVER cared what customers have thought. Nor do they ever give any explainations for there arbitary actions.

 
 
Posted by tekware Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Copy your ebooks to computer. Convert to either epub or mobi format using Calibre (free) if not already in that format. Put copy of books back on SD card in eBooks directory. Download Mobipocket Reader for BlackBerry OTA from their site. Read away.

 
 
Posted by mikaela73 Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Why bother doing all that? Kindle is a way better app and syncs what you've read across all your devices.

 
 
Posted by wesware Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Agree 100%. Who needs B&N anyway? They'll regret abandoning BB later.

 
 
Posted by Xerxes10 Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Thanks, good tech tip on eBooks!

 
 
Posted by koool1 Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

B&N sucks. Who reads books on a Blackberry (or iPhone for that matter)?

 
 
Posted by HTC_Droid_EvO Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

RIM sucks thats why...

 
 
Posted by CL8Baller Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

HTC, why are you even here? xD

 
 
Posted by Brianflys Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Mods,
Please delet HTC_Droid's account. We don't need trolls here.

 
 
Posted by bhavi_jp Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 224 days ago

Yeah. We need fanboys only on this site. Delete everyone else.

 
 
Posted by CL8Baller Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Hold on for one moment.....

We had an Barnes and Noble app?

As for the Starbucks application, I see no reason to stop support on that end, at least keep the application downloadable, there is still a fair amount of people that haven't jumped to OS6 or OS7.

I like swiping my Gold Card by the way.

 
 
Posted by anastasiophan Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Well, its official, my next ereader will be a kindle. I own 2 nooks (wife has 1) and convinced 4 others to get nooks. I can promise that no one I know will ever purchase a nook or B&N EBook. I'm sick of companies screwing their customers.

Barnes and Noble, I hope it ends up being worth it....

 
 
Posted by w0qj Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

That's exactly why I never buy any eBooks!

~You cannot share your eBook with anyone (without physically lending them your device that it is on).

~If the eBook publisher/distributor refuses to support the eBook platform going forward, this B&N debacle is exactly what happens! Imagine what happens when you upgrade to a newer BlackBerry smartphone--can you transfer the eBook to your new BlackBerry in Jan 2012? No!

~I'm not picking on B&N, this eBook situation may also apply to Amazon, Apple, etc. in the future too...

I'm sticking with my physical books!

 
 
Posted by a_silent_song Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

I cannot BEGIN to tell you how stupid I think B&N is for doing this. I have a Nook 1st edition and I (until recently) owned a Nook Color. I read books extensively on my Nooks, but considering my visual disabilities, when I took my contacts out at night, the ONLY thing I could continue to read on was my BlackBerry, because the Nooks were just too large to hold close enough to my face to see them. I've been pestering the crap out of Barnes & Noble to get the app updated to support PubIt! books, especially since that's what my publisher uses to upload books to Barnes & Noble; every time I tried to download a PubIt! book, I'd get an error message that the book wasn't supported on the device yet. I think a good third of my almost 900 eBooks were like that.

Now I'm being told (obviously) that the B&N app on BlackBerry won't even be supported past the beginning of the year. This means that B&N users who read exclusively on their BlackBerry smartphones WON'T EVEN BE ABLE TO PURCHASE AND READ THE BOOK I WROTE ON A BLACKBERRY. How absolutely STUPID is this? They must REALLY not be in business to sell books! I'll definitely be directing BlackBerry users who want the eBook to purchase my book from Amazon once it's released in November.

~Jessica Meigs
http://www.becomingzombies.com (Yes, that's shameless self-pimpage. Considering the book has a zombie virus named after THE Kevin Michaluk, I think it's okay to plug it here lmao.)

 
 
Posted by BBOttawa Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Nice move B&N, way to ostracize 70 million BB subscribers world wide. Guess that's not a big enough market for you to make an HTML5 app at least? Lame company.

 
 
Posted by Theme Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Never touching B&N again. Any company that just drops support like that deserves to hit bottom. Same for Starbucks. I'm a teach junkie and the go to guy for all my family and friends and will fight against that just like I'm doing for facebook with their recent changes. G+!!! We need a G+ app NOW!!!!!!

 
 
Posted by walnuts1024 Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

Oh well. I'll stick to Kobo and the Amazon cloud reader. Thanks B&N I'll get kindles for this years christmas gifts.

 
 
Posted by snakedoctor231 Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

ummm people read books on their phones? i tried reading an ebook on my small bb screen and gave up after less than a day, good thing it was free. i honestly do see what the big deal is and obviously B&n doesn't either. im guessing this wont be something many people cry over.

 
 
Posted by maddie1128 Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

My Nook color (which can't hold the WIFI signal worth a damn) is going on ebay. And they can kiss my butt. I am now going to let them know what I think of them.
BTW- when I was in Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago- it was my Blackberry that I was able to handle at the beach. Sitting in my chair in the surf with my Storm2 in a baggy. Sweet! I am done with B&N.
Thanks for those who chimed in with alternatives. I will be looking into them.

 
 
Posted by dbaynejr Monday, Oct 03, 2011 225 days ago

the worse part of the statement is where they say we value your patronage. If you really valued it, you would be dumping the bb world. All they care about is the nook owners other apps will be discontinued as well.

 
 
Posted by berryaddictnoza Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 225 days ago

If you guys want to switch to Amazon, please let them know you would like their BB app updated for OS7 devices; kindle-feedback@amazon.com

 
 
Posted by joecastrignano Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 225 days ago

Everyone is mad at B&N and Starbucks, but the big question is why are they dropping this support. Be mad at Rim if anything. If they marketed their products properly more companies would be making apps for the platforms, instead of jumping ship.

 
 
Posted by Altarocks Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 225 days ago

This means next to nothing to me - I have no desire to read books on a tiny LCD screen, Torch included. I'm much more upset that B&N hasn't released a PB app. But even then I wouldn't read B&W text on it. E ink screens are so much better for reading.

 
 
Posted by Cafeina Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 225 days ago

Yeah....Kobo for me. I read all of my ebooks on my BlackBerry. It is always with me and convenient. I am not going to purchase a separate device just to patronize Barnes & Noble. They can keep their Nooks.

 
 
Posted by jimread1949 Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 225 days ago

Would it be wrong to say B&N can stick their Nooks up their Crannies ?
Sorry

 
 
Posted by gritsinct Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 224 days ago

Hehe - that is exactly what they should do!

I am a prolific reader (as are my kids) and we purchase multiple books each month. I will be switching to the Kindle app (Kobo is too expensive) and hoping that Amazon doesn't also drop support. Although Mobipocket is also an option, it's usually a bit more expensive as well (plus the books are tied to a device pin which is a PITA each time I get a new BB).

I'm not sure of the reasoning behind B&N's decision - whether it is purely to support their own products, or whether RIM has made it too difficult to create a new app for BBs. But regardless, since I'm not leaving my BlackBerry, B&N has lost another customer...

I'm sad to stop supporting an actual bookstore but they quit supporting me so it is what it is I guess.

 
 
Posted by Altarocks Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 224 days ago

What I don't understand is anyone saying they will buy a Kindle rather than a Nook. How is supporting Amazon any different? How does this benefit anyone as a BB user? All it does is take more sales away from the last big brick and mortar book store chain and put it in the pocket of a company that has no more interest in BB users than the former.

 
 
Posted by blackmoe Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 224 days ago

Exactly! Just over a year ago Amazon announced they will release a native reader app for the Playbook as soon as the Playbook itself is released. A year later not only has that app failed to appear but their silence is deafening when questioned about that empty promise. If they have decided to forego the native app and just wait for the Android reader why don't they just admit it. Same with the cloud reader - why not admit it if that is all they are going to release.

 
 
Posted by Leo J Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 224 days ago

Did you not just see what Amazon has been up to ??? The new Kindle Fire is whay they don't have anything for the PB.

 
 
Posted by guerllamo7 Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 224 days ago

I have a monthly B&N membership. Cancelling that right after this.
Kobo wants our business and they will get it. B&N is going down.

 
 
Posted by lak611 Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 223 days ago

I wouldn't be surprised if Kobo goes bankrupt too. They were affiliated with Borders, which is bankrupt and out of business.

I never would have heard of Kobo if not for Crackberry.

Amazon will destroy Kobo.

 
 
Posted by kevinneworleans313 Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 224 days ago

I have a Nook Color (rooted on CM7) and enjoy it. I also have an Ipod Touch (Love it), and need I say I have a Blackberry Curve. I loved having Kindle and Barnes & Noble on all of my devices, except my Blackberry.

The B&N experience on my Blackberry was horrible and I was also not allowed to read many of my books for whatever reason.

I'm glad they're dropping support, better no app than irritating app.