Nook Touch Has Hidden But Functional Web Browser

Update, June 7, 2011, there is now photo proof! First Photo: Website On Nook Touch Hidden Browser

Update, June 8, 2011, there is now video! First Video Of Nook Touch Hidden Web Browser

Update Jun 8, 2011: Now you can root too! Let The Nook Touch Rooting Begin!

At a Mobileread forum, someone posted:

If you type in a URL under Search on the Nook Simple Touch, it launches a web browser. I’m not sure if this is an oversight or a feature that they’re going to refine, but it’s good to know given that the lack of a web browser seems to be a deal-breaker for some.

Strangely, there’s been no long discussion of this or even photos proving it, but someone else replied:

Awesome! I can confirm this does in fact work as well. Searching goes to whatever URL you specify, and then a web browser opens where you can click on links OR type in another URL if you wish.

If you have a Nook Touch, try it and report in Comments. A photo would be great too!

Updated June 7, 2011, see after the break.

Now a third Commenter has chimed in:

The web browser is somewhat buggy, which is probably why they didn’t release it, but it’s faster and nicer than the K3 browser.

If you tap the upper-right corner that looks like an outline, you get a series of menus for various settings, including a Recent Downloads page…

I got a Notification in the title bar that a .pdf had downloaded, and it appears in the Downloads list, but I cannot locate the downloaded file.

I’m sure B&N purposefully restricted it to be an interface to their bookstore. It will be interesting to see a rooted Nook Touch running the stock Android browser or a third-party one.