Yep, we had a feeling this one was coming. As expected, bookstore mega-chain Barnes & Noble has launched its answer to Amazon’s Kindle Fire (and to a lesser extent, Kobo’s multimedia Vox slate) — also as expected, the thing looks an awful lot like its predecessor, the recently discounted Nook Color, right down to the metal bar on the bottom corner. Granted, B&N did already make the leap into the tablet space, when the Nook Color was upgraded earlier this year — but the Nook Tablet brings more than just a new name, of course.
The tablet offers up a seven-inch IPS display with full lamination, videos up to 1080p and 11.5 hours of battery life. The Nook has 16GB of built-in memory, which is further expandable by way of a microSD slot. The tablet is all about multimedia content, naturally, offering up from Netflix and Hulu Plus pre-loaded on the device. It gives users access to 250 magazines and periodicals, as well as comics from publishers like Marvel. Barnes & Noble is clearly going directly after the Kindle Fire with this device. So, why pick the Nook over the Fire? Double the storage (which is further expandable), a better display, more RAM, free in-store device support and a lighter weight body at under a pound, says Barnes and Noble.
The device runs Gingerbread, and unfortunately, like the Color before it, doesn’t offer open access to the Android Market. As expected, the Tablet will cost you $249 ($50 more than the competition from Amazon). Pre-orders begin now, and the slate will start shipping next week.
Gallery: Nook Tablet unveiled
Continue reading Barnes & Noble launches Nook Tablet, lights a fire under Amazon
Barnes & Noble launches Nook Tablet, lights a fire under Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:06:00 EST.
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