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Nook Tablet

November 7, 2011 by · Comments Off on Nook Tablet 

Nook Tablet, Barnes & Noble Inc. on Monday unveiled the Nook Tablet, a device the bookseller will begin to sell in its stores next week as it targets core readers and takes aim at other hot tablets on the market.

With the launch of the Nook Tablet, Barnes & Noble is aiming to court customers during the key holiday season, competing in a space that includes Amazon.com Inc.’s recently announced Kindle Fire and Apple Inc.’s iPad.

Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet will retail at $249, with other features including a free cloud service, nine hours of video battery life and access to the Nook newsstand and comics. Amazon’s WiFi-enabled Kindle Fire retails for $199, while iPads have a starting price of $499.

Weighing less than a pound, the Nook Tablet is physically similar to the company’s Nook Color, and includes 16GB of storage and the capability to expand memory using a microSD card. It offers up to 11.5 hours of reading, uses the Android operating system, has Wi-Fi capability and a built-in microphone to read and record stories. Pre-loaded apps include Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora and Sudoku.

Barnes & Noble also announced it cut the price of its Nook Color to $199 from $249 and slashed the Nook SimpleTouch’s price to $99 from $139.

Barnes & Noble Chief Executive William Lynch said Nook’s in-store services were a key competitive advantage to what Amazon could offer. He added the Kindle Fire’s memory capacity was “deficient for a media tablet.”

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