[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fR7ZtiHoTEE]
Barnes and Noble announced their Nook Tablet today, a successor to their now $199 Nook Color. The $249 dual core tablet is aimed squarely at the $199 Kindle Fire but has 10GB more (16GB total) storage and the ability to add up to 32GB via micro SD card. It also has a superior screen to the Kindle and the popular Hulu Plus and of course Neflix for watching videos. The app library is a much smaller subset of the Android market, however it is curated much better so only quality apps are allowed in.
Although we hear it a lot, the Nook Tablet or the Kindle Fire aren’t really competitors to the iPad. Realistically, if you have a budget for a $500-$830 iPad, you aren’t considering a $200 alternative … and vice versa. Sure all are “tablets” but it is like comparing a netbook to a MacBook Pro.
If anything, these cheap 7-inch tablets are competition for the $188 iPod touch (though with increased portability, superior app and content ecosystem and cameras -that too is a stretch). Price, being one of the biggest purchase considerations, puts these things more in line with the lower priced iPods. For people who want a bigger screen and don’t consider the many other advantages to being in the Apple ecosystem a plus, these might make sense.
If you had a choice between the two, would you choose a $199/$249 Nook or a $199 Kindle Fire?
- Barnes & Noble reportedly launching Nook Tablet on November 16th for $249 (9to5google.com)
