Barnes & Noble announces 7-inch Nook HD and 9-inch Nook HD Plus
Barnes & Noble has announced a couple of tablets named the Nook HD and the Nook HD+. The 7-inch Nook HD is aimed to take on the Google Nexus 7 as well the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, while the 9-inch Nook HD+ is targeted to competed against the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire and the latest iPad
After seeing Google come out with the 7-inch Nexus 7 and Amazon with its 7-inch and 9-inch variants of the latest Kindle Fire HD, it was evident that Barnes & Noble would not sit idle and would have its own next generation of tablets to counter.
Apparently as gathered from CNET, Barnes & Noble has announced two tablets. One is a 7-inch tablet called the Nook HD while the other one is a larger 9-inch slate named the Nook HD+. The Nook HD has been priced at $199 and $229 respectively for the 8GB and 16GB variants, while the 9-inch Nook HD+ would cost $269 and $299 for the 16GB and 32GB variant respectively.
The 7-inch Nook HD is intended to take on the 7-inch Google Nexus 7 as well as the 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire HD. Also as an answer to Amazon’s Instant Video service, Barnes & Noble has come up with its own Nook Video service that would offer both standard and high definition video content for purchase or rental and HD video streaming as well. Also it would support UltraViolet movies and work is going on with Netflix, but there’s no word on HBO Go as of yet.
Although the Nook app store is not on par with Google Play Store, Barnes & Noble has promised to offer more apps than the previous year.
The Nook HD tablet features a 7-inch touch display with a resolution of 1440 x 900p at 243 ppi which is the highest yet on any 7-inch tablet screen. The tablet runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on top of a custom skin that feels like an evolution of the original Nook Tablet’s OS. On the inside, the tablet packs a 1.3GHz dual core OMAP 4470 processor and 1GB of RAM.
Other features include USB 2.0, microSD, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Comparatively, the Nook HD is much lighter at 319g than the Nexus 7 (240g) and Kindle Fire HD (395g) and measures 0.43-inch in depth. The battery offers up-to 10.5 hours of continuous reading or up-to 9 hours of video watching.
On the other hand, the larger Nook HD+ is an answer to Apple’s iPad and the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire as well at a much cheaper price.
The Nook HD+ features a 9-inch touch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080p at 256 ppi and runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The tablet is powered by a 1.5GHz dual core OMAP 4470 processor paired with 1GB of RAM.
For connectivity, the tablet features USB 2.0, microSD, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and a 3.5mm audio jack.
At 515g the Nook HD+ is about 20% lighter than the latest iPad and measures 0.45-inch in depth. It packs a 6000mAh battery that promises up-to 10 hours of reading or 9 hours of video playback.
The Nook HD is up for preorder now and is scheduled to ship starting late in October and is expected to hit Barnes & Noble stores in early November along with the Nook HD+.
Check out the Nook HD and HD+ at the Barnes & Noble website.
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