Barnes & Noble Announces Nook Tablet

For weeks now it has been rumoured that Barnes & Noble is going to go head to head with Amazon with the release of their own tablet. That rumour can now be confirmed as the company announced the Nook Tablet, which will compete with Amazon’s hotly anticipated Kindle Fire tablet.
By all accounts Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet is one serious device. When B&N said it planned to compete with Amazon, it really meant business and it can be seen in the Nook Tablet itself and its impressive specifications, in almost all aspects it trumps the Kindle Fire. Both devices sport a 1Ghz dual-core TI OMAP 4 processor but after this, The Nook Tablet starts to pull away from the Kindle Fire, it has more RAM (1GB to 512MB), more storage (16GB to 8GB), an expansion slot that can accommodate a 32GB microSD card, more battery life, and finally, a really vivid and colourful screen. People who have had the opportunity to test the Nook Tablet have been amazed by the amazing quality of the screen. Some even thought that screen was AMOLED. But apparently, the Nook Tablet is using a new technology for the screen that has resulted in the more vivid colors.
Aside from these specifications, there are also additional features really puts the Nook Tablet on the consumer radar. For example, it has a cool “read and record” function where you can record yourself reading passages. The practical application of this feature is that you can record yourself reading your child’s favourite story book and your child can play it back and voila! You’re reading to your child even though you’re not there physically. Busy parents will definitely take advantage of this feature.
Where the Nook Tablet stumbles a bit is with the pricing. The Kindle Fire is only $199, which is cheaper compared to the Nook Tablet’s price of $249. The real question is will this $50 difference affect Nook sales or will it be a negligible factor as consumers see a much better product in Nook?

Originally posted on November 8, 2011 @ 9:20 am