Barnes & Noble unveils Kindle Fire rival, the Nook Tablet

Jos

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Barnes & Noble today revealed the successor to its Nook Color e-reader as it readies to against book-selling rival Amazon for your holiday dollars. The $250 Nook Tablet isn't a completely new product but rather an update with improved specs as well as a thinner and lighter profile. It has a 7-inch (1024x600) IPS display and 16GB of internal storage, upgradeable via microSD, coupled with 1GB of RAM and a new 1GHz TI OMAP4 dual-core processor.

Like its predecessor, the Nook Tablet uses a custom UI built on top of Android 2.3 that's optimized for several specific functions -- like reading, of course, but also email, web browsing and videos. Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said the tablet will come with Hulu Plus and Netflix video services pre-loaded as well as streaming music solution Pandora, while also offering access to thousands of other applications available on the Nook's curated app store.

Barnes and Noble will also offer a free cloud service with the Nook Tablet, which will store your purchases and downloads, and will provide customers with free Wi-Fi at all its stores through AT&T.

The Nook Tablet doesn't include 3G connectivity or front and back cameras like more expensive tablets, but that's a sacrifice many might be willing to make at $250. In terms of battery life, the company is promising approximately 11.5 hours in e-reader mode and about nine hours dedicated to video viewing.

Needless to say, Barnes & Noble is positioning this device against Amazon's Kindle Fire. The latter costs $50 less but offers half the RAM and half storage capacity with no option to expand. B&N also claims their Nook Tablet has a superior screen and is lighter to carry. It should be available next week at Barnes and Nobles stores, along with select retail partners. The Nook Color and Nook Simple Touch each received $50 price cuts, now costing $200 and $100.

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I have an idea, they use NORMAL ANDROID and preinstall their app. That way, I might actually BUY one.
 
ikesmasher said:
I have an idea, they use NORMAL ANDROID and preinstall their app. That way, I might actually BUY one.

Or you could just root it and use your own ROM, like most android users end up doing fairly easily. I still like the Kindle Fire, but the increased storage and expandability of this with Micro SD makes it tempting as well.
 
i had issues with the original nook and the new version addresses most.
no netflix app on original, kindle fire doesnt have one either. new nook win

no access to android store, kindle fire doesnt either. can root nook (install android on microsd card then when microsd is installed it will boot from and run android gaining access to android store, remove sd card and nook returns to original.) capable on both nooks

faster processor then original nook is a reason to upgrade from original, added memory negates extra cash spent over kindle fire.

the power input is micro usb, a standard connection but can only use the cord provided to charge. sucks i have all these micro usb cables but can not charge from pc usb or car charger. need special car charger that also charges my phone and other devices.
both nooks are guilty of this.
 
i had issues with the original nook and the new version addresses most.
no netflix app on original, kindle fire doesnt have one either. new nook win

no access to android store, kindle fire doesnt either. can root nook (install android on microsd card then when microsd is installed it will boot from and run android gaining access to android store, remove sd card and nook returns to original.) capable on both nooks

faster processor then original nook is a reason to upgrade from original, added memory negates extra cash spent over kindle fire.

the power input is micro usb, a standard connection but can only use the cord provided to charge. sucks i have all these micro usb cables but can not charge from pc usb or car charger. need special car charger that also charges my phone and other devices.
both nooks are guilty of this.


The kindle fire does Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Instant Video. You can easily Root the Kindle Fire just the same.

Additionally The Kindle fire has a far larger multimedia store, with music, videos, books, everything.

The nook only allows you to store 1 GB of none B&N data on it unless you purchase your own MicroSD card. The kindle fire also allows you to store any of your purchased content on their cloud servers at no cost, and no limit.

B&N are just desperately trying to defy their inevitable demise.
 
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