Barnes & Noble To Take On Amazon (Again) With A New 8GB Nook Tablet

[Jessica Lares]

http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/20/bar...b-nook-tablet/

Barnes & Noble seemed pleasantly surprised when they announced their Nook Tablet “exceeded expectations” over the holidays, but their 70% year-over-year jump in device sales paled in comparison to rival Amazon’s 177%.

That their flagship Nook Tablet cost a full $50 more than the Kindle Fire certainly didn’t help, but that should change soon — according to a document obtained by The Verge, Barnes & Noble will release a new 8GB version of the Nook Tablet on February 22.

While the original Nook Tablet sported 16GB of onboard memory, the new version will feature the same amount as the bestselling Kindle Fire. A decrease in memory capacity also signals a corresponding dip for the price tag, which means that BN is looking to take Amazon on at their own game. It’s a smart, if possibly-overdue move for BN — Amazon has already been playing up their price advantage with a national marketing campaign, and while it targets the iPad specifically, the message still applies to BN’s slightly pricier tablet.

[foreverjuly]

I wonder if that means they'll be halving the amount of memory that people can use for non-BN content. That was like 1.3GB for the Nook Tablet, so now they'd only get .65GB!

[soondai]

They really need to improve their app store. It's pathetic.

I'm still stunned that the Fire ended up being the more open of the 2 devices, but even if you stick to the walled gardens (as most do), you can get by just fine on the Amazon App store. The selection on the Nook store is small and many apps are not updated.

I had a tablet for a couple weeks. Very glad I took it back.

[cvkemp]

I believe both should just give in and let us install sd cards.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by foreverjuly

I wonder if that means they'll be halving the amount of memory that people can use for non-BN content. That was like 1.3GB for the Nook Tablet, so now they'd only get .65GB!

...and drop RAM from 1GB to 512MB?

...and eliminate the mSD card slot? and mic? and volume buttons?

[afv011]

This should be in the News section.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by afv011

This should be in the News section.

It already is, but it's getting more hits over here.

[robertc88]

And the price of the KF will drop to ....

Anyone want another?

The NT 2 is pretty much a duplicate of features supposedly and is going to be $199 from what I'm gathering in my travels on the net. 8GB the only change.

[beckywc]

You'd have thought they would have been working on coming up with something to combat Amazons upcoming release. To me this just doesn't make since.

Foxconn Electronics has received a massive order from Amazon to start producing the followup to the widely successful Kindle Fire Tablet. It is apparent that the Chinese company will begin pumping out thousands of the 10 inch Kindle Fire. This new e-reader and tablet hybrid is slated to be released in the second quarter of 2012.

It is obvious that the Kindle Fire has received tons of acclaim for being the second most popular Android tablet in the world. Research firm iSupply noted that the company has sold over 3.2 million tablet since launching in November 2011. The move to a larger screen makes sense not only to compete with the iPad but also have a stronger vehicle for their Streaming Video service. It goes without saying that movies and television shows will offer a better viewing experience on a 10 inch tablet. Don’t forget Amazon has already signed original content producers for the launch of this device. They are making it a point to deliver their own web originals based on successful content creators.

[AnemicOak]

B&N really needs to work on beefing up their non-book content to take a run at the Fire. I personally like the Nook Tab hardware a little more than the Fire except there's not much you can do with it when compared to the Fire. Since B&N's decided to lock it down so much they need to actually become the source for the stuff they're locking out (I'm still pissed about them taking away the sideloading of apps 'cause their crappy little app store doesn't cut it price or selection wise).

[TimW]

...aaand a refurb KF priced at $179.00. I suspect they may go lower.

[scrapking]

Originally Posted by cvkemp

I believe both should just give in and let us install sd cards.

This. The Kobo Vox has one (I have a 16GB card in mine, my girlfriend has a 32GB card in her Vox), after all, and is a very similar device.

[Anabran]

Double post one redacted

[Anabran]

HI I am really happy with my KF but our 7 inch KF weighs as much as the current the 10 inch Ipad 2

I carried around a 13 inch macbook since 2008
and I just dont see much advantage in a 10 inch tablet from a portability perspective which is why I did not have any interest in the Ipad
A 10 inch Kindle fire would just be a little too big and heavy IMHO unless they are going to use different/lighter materials.

I am a professional 3D animator.
For me my tablet is a pure portable consumption device:
Light internet, reading of religious Texts, Sci-fi novels & Comic books and occasional video. something easily pulled from a large jacket pocket
while waiting in some tedious Line at a bank or something

any actual Creative production, requiring screen space for tool pallets, is done on my "real" computers at home.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by robertc88

The NT 2 is pretty much a duplicate of features supposedly and is going to be $199 from what I'm gathering in my travels on the net. 8GB the only change.

NT has these features and the Fire doesn't:

• RAM: 1GB vs 512MB
• mSD card slot vs none
• microphone vs none
• physical volume buttons vs none