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Barnes & Noble shipping GlowLight Nook ahead of schedule (full review)

Barnes & Noble has started shipping its new Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight e-reader and CNET has the full hands-on review.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
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David Carnoy
The $139 Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight is shipping this week. Read CNET's full review. Sarah Tew/CNET

With previous product launches, Barnes & Noble has made a habit of underpromising and overdelivering, so it's no surprise that it's shipping its new e-reader, the $139 Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, a couple of weeks earlier than it previously said it would.

The company says that, "Beginning this week, ahead of schedule, Barnes & Noble will begin shipping units to customers who preordered the device" and that preorders will "ship throughout the month."

We have no way to know what Barnes & Noble's expectations for preorders were, but the company says it's having a hard time keeping up with demand and that due to "larger-than-expected order volume," limited quantities of the device are expected to be available for sale in stores in early May. It suggests that customers who wish to gift the device for Mother's Day preorder now in Barnes & Noble stores or online, "as orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-serve basis."

While my first instinct would be to chalk this up as a bit of hype, there does seem to be a lot of interest among consumers in having an e-reader with a built-in light that Barnes & Noble coyly notes is, "amazing in bed."

As for what CNET thinks of the product, you can read the full review right here, right now.