Video shows NOOK has mobile browser on board

Considering that the latest version of the Barnes and Noble NOOK, aka "The Simple Touch Reader" is powered by Android, it might not be terribly surprising to find a mobile browser aboard the device despite the lack of any announcement from Barnes and Noble pertaining to the software. The eBook Reader took some video of the browser in action.

To access the hidden browser, click on the search icon from the tools bar at the bottom of any page, and then enter a URL into the search bar just as you would with any mobile browser and the browser will be loaded automatically. It is not a great browser in comparison with what is on tablets and smartphones. Navigation is a problem and when the user wants to open a new window from a site, he is taken back to the search page and cannot quickly get back to the browser. Scrolling, as you can see in the video, is also a problem at times. Certain sites like CNN and the New York Times would not load at all.

While we wouldn't want to make this our everyday browser, it probably could be used to check simple web sites and most likely we will see an update down the road that will improve the functionality of the application.

source: CNET