Skip to main content

Barnes & Noble suspends sales of its Nook tablet, faulty charger is to blame

Barnes and Noble’s Nook tablet was meant to directly compete with Amazon’s equally sized Fire tablet for your Ulysses S. Grant. Unfortunately for the brick-and-mortar bookstore, things have not turned out that way, with the Nook’s removal from its physical and online storefronts the latest blow to the tablet’s potential success.

Its suspension was initially foretold by Reddit user nookthedestroyer, who alleged that Barnes and Noble issued a companywide order to remove Nook tablets from its stores and return them to the supplier. The user, who allegedly works at a Barnes and Noble store, assumed the order was a result of the tablet’s spyware controversy that also affected Blu and many other smartphone manufacturers.

Recommended Videos

Developed by Chinese firm Shanghai Adups Technology, the software has the ability to discreetly collect everything from call logs and contact names to IP addresses, with the information then sent to third-party servers in China. Security firm Kryptowire discovered the preinstalled spyware on more than a few Android phones, with a subsequent investigation having discovered similar spyware on as many as 43 manufacturers’ devices.

Even though researchers also found the preinstalled software on the Nook tablet, Barnes & Noble confirmed to Android Police that the decision to halt the tablet’s sales were due to a faulty charger, not because of the software.

“Barnes and Noble is investigating three reported cases involving the adapter sold with the Nook Tablet 7. The specific issue involves the adapter casing breaking apart while still in the socket,” reads the statement. “This does not affect the Nook device itself. With no injuries reported and out of an abundance of caution, we recommend that customers stop using the adapter until we provide a replacement adapter.”

Barnes and Noble also confirmed that talks with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are underway regarding a recall. In the meantime, the company advises Nook tablet owners to charge the device through a computer.

Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
Samsung Galaxy S25 owners treated to unexpected new features in latest update
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

The April 2025 security update for the Samsung Galaxy S25 series has many more goodies than initially expected. SamMobile notes that the monthly update isn’t just about fixing vulnerabilities and security holes. It’s also about bringing back a feature and improving others.

In total, the new update for the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra provides a security patch and includes improvements to camera performance, charging, and general software stability.

Read more
Spotify outage: service restored as Spotify says hack reports ‘are false’
Spotify on iPhone.

It wasn't just you, Spotify was down. Tens of thousands of users across the world reported issues with the popular music streaming service on April 16. Spotify quickly acknowledged the fault on X, and followed up saying the outage wasn't due to a hack.

The service is now back up and running, with the issue being resolved within around four hours of the initial 'Spotify is down' reports.

Read more
TikTok will let its user community add context to sensational posts
TikTok Footnotes on a phone.

TikTok, like any other social media platform, is no stranger to harmful information and controversial content. The company already has a fact-checking system in place to tackle fake news, medical, and election-related misinformation. Now, it is hoping that its community will add helpful context to content that may be misleading or sensationalizing facts.

To that end, TikTok has today announced Footnotes, a system that enables approved community members to attach helpful information to a post for viewers. X already has one such system in place called Community Notes, and Meta platforms such as Instagram and Facebook also adopted it in 2025. 

Read more