AppleInsider Staff
Barnes & Noble has announced two new tablets in its latest Nook lineup, led by a larger 9-inch model that will compete more directly with Apple's iPad, as well as the new 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD.
The newly unveiled 9-inch Nook HD+ will be priced at $269 for a 16-gigabyte model, while a larger 32-gigabyte capacity will be $299. Customers can preorder starting Wednesday and the devices will ship in late October.
The Nook HD+ has a 1,920-by-1,280-pixel display that packs in 256 pixels per inch. It is laminated to reduce glare and improve viewing angles. It also has a 1.5-gigahertz dual-core processor with a gigabyte of RAM.
In its press release, Barnes & Noble took a shot at Apple's iPad with Retina display, stating that the Nook HD+ "rivals the 'resolutionary' screen of the leading high-resolution large-format tablet." The bookseller also boasted that its new device is 20 percent lighter than the iPad and nearly half the price of the entry-level third-generation iPad.
"With the combination of the highest resolution screen, lightest weight and expansive access to content rendered in a digital quality never before seen, Nook HD is the world's best 7-inch media tablet," said William J. Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble. "We designed our larger format tablet Nook HD+ because we think there’s big demand from customers for a super-light, extremely high quality 9-inch tablet, at half the price of the iPad. Both our 7-inch NOOK HD and 9-inch NOOK HD+ deliver an exceptional customer experience and we enthusiastically encourage customers to go to nook.com and learn more about them."
In addition to Apple's iPad, the Nook HD+ will also compete with the 8.9-inch Amazon Kindle Fire HD. That forthcoming tablet will feature a 1,920-by-1,200-pixel display packed into a screen slightly smaller than the 9.7-inch Retina display on Apple's iPad. The 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD starts at $299 for the 16-gigabyte model, while the 32-gigabyte version is $369.
Barnes & Noble will also launch a new 7-inch Nook HD in October. That device will have a screen resolution of 1,440 by 900 pixels, which amounts to 243 pixels per inch. The smaller Nook will run a 1.3-gigahertz processor and weighs 11.1 ounces.
The 7-inch Nook HD is priced at $199 for the 8-gigabyte model, and $229 for a 16-gigabyte version. Both are expandable with microSD cards.
In the 7-inch market, Amazon just launched a smaller Kindle Fire HD earlier this month for $199 with 16 gigabytes of storage. An entry-level Kindle Fire model with 8 gigabytes of storage is priced at $159.
Barnes & Noble and Amazon are increasing their options in the tablet market as Apple is expected to expand its own iPad lineup in the next month with the debut of a new, smaller iPad. The so-called "iPad mini" is rumored to feature a 7.85-inch display.
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50 Comments
Dear Barnes & Noble,
I used to enjoy purchasing books at your stores. However, as of late, the front of your store seems to be setup to peddle Nook devices. Have you notice nobody is even standing around your Nook displays? I dislike walking into your stores and being harassed by a salesperson trying to push your failed Nook devices onto me. I would visit a competitor's store instead, but you and Borders assimilated most of the mainstream smaller bookstores, and then Borders closed their doors.
Sincerely,
Negafox
I wonder in what area does the screen rival the iPad... It's certainly not resolution. Glare?
"No annoying ads"... hahaha. Sounds like a decent offering. What about cellular radio?
Laggy, slow and ugly. I'm not joking, but I won't buy one if they were $50. Hell, if I was offered one for free and told I couldn't resell it I'd say keep it.
Dear Barnes & Noble,
I used to enjoy purchasing books at your stores. However, as of late, the front of your store seems to be setup to peddle Nook devices. Have you notice nobody is even standing around your Nook displays? I dislike walking into your stores and being harassed by a salesperson trying to push your failed Nook devices onto me. I would visit a competitor's store instead, but you and Borders assimilated most of the mainstream smaller bookstores, and then Borders closed their doors.
Sincerely,
Negafox
That's funny. The B&N I visit at least once a week does have a few Nook tables set up in front as well as a salesperson, but they never bother me with more than a greeting. The other 90-95% of the store still seems to carry the same books, periodicals, music, and movies. Look, my anecdotal experience cancels out yours and the world is in balance again.
The article doesn't say what operating system it is using. Maybe this version is faster than the last version.
I like the SD card feature. That makes the Nook HD more appealing than some tablets without it. I'll wait for some video reviews. The Nexus 7 appeals to me and even the Kindle Fire does. I don't want one of these for playing games. I want it for reading, browsing the web, and streaming video. The one that does the best job will get my money before Christmas.