Skip to main content

Barnes and Noble unveils 7-inch Nook Tablet: 1GHz dual-core, 1GB RAM, $249

Nook-Tablet-XL
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Taking a direct shot at Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Barnes and Noble announced at an event in New York City this morning its new Nook Tablet, a more robust version of B&N’s popular Nook Color e-reader.

The Nook Tablet, which runs Google’s Android 2.3x Gingerbread operating system, comes loaded with a 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, twice the RAM of the Kindle Fire. With a 7-inch, laminated IPS “Vivid View” LG display, with a 1024×600 resolution, the Nook Tablet weighs just under one pound. It also includes 16GB of internal storage, which is more than that of the Kindle Fire, and can be expanded an additional 32GB via a microSD card slot.

Recommended Videos

Other specs include 9 hours of video battery life, and 11.5 hours of reading time. The Nook Tablet supports up to 1080p full-high definition video, and comes pre-loaded with Netflix and Hulu Plus. The company boasts that the screen of the Nook Tablet has a “superior viewing angle” to the Kindle Fire, and said that Amazon’s 7-inch tablet has an “off-the-shelf display.”

A few added bonus features of the Nook Tablet include a “read and record” functionality, which enables a user to record themselves reading, say, a children’s book (B&N used Winnie the Pooh as an example), and their children can listen to them read it on the Nook Tablet later.

Barnes and Noble also unveiled Nook Cloud, which allows users to backup their purchased content to B&N’s servers. In addition, B&N announced Nook Support, which allows Nook owners to get free technical support for their Nook devices at any B&N location, nation-wide.

“Compare for yourselves, but it is our assessment that content will look and read better on the Nook tablet,” said William Lynch, Barnes and Noble’s chief executive. “If you bought a Kindle Fire and wanted support where would you go? Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle?”

The Nook Tablet will cost $249. Amazon’s Kindle Fire costs $199.

The Nook Color e-reader is also getting a refresh, the company announced. Changes include more tablet-like functionality, a response rate that’s 25 percent faster than any other device, and two months of reading time on a single charge (based on an average of 1 hour of reader per day). The price of the Nook Color has  been dropped to $199.

The Nook Simple Touch, Barnes and Noble’s base-level e-reader, also received a price cut, down to $99 from $139. The screen has been upgraded to display more “crisp” text. Lynch also points out that the Touch does not include ads, no matter what.

“Do you really want to have to spend an extra $40 or give your friend an ad-based product?” asked Lynch, in reference to Amazon’s Kindle.

Check back with DT shortly for photos and first impressions for the Nook Tablet.

Updated with additional details at 10:45am ET

Andrew Couts
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
Topics
A simultaneous smartphone shock is coming for Brits
Two people look at a smartphone.

Imagine the cacophony of some 85 million smartphones all going off at once. Well, that’s precisely what’s going to happen in the U.K. in September.  

It’s part of a test of the U.K.’s emergency alert system, and will involve the phones vibrating and making a siren sound for 10 seconds. The handsets will also show a message, though the precise wording has yet to be revealed.

Read more
How to watch Samsung unveil new foldables at Unpacked on Wednesday
A person using the open Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.

Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked event is almost here, and Digital Trends will be there to take a closer look at all the new gear that it unveils.

The Korean tech giant is also livestreaming the occasion, which takes place in Brooklyn, New York City, on Wednesday morning ET. Read on to find out how you can watch.

Read more
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: the upgrade we’ve been waiting for?
Thre Flip 7 models next to each other

I never really thought that I'd want to go down the route of owning a flip phone, ever since I swore off my Nokia in the early 2000s (you know, the one with the weird felt covering and tiny notification window).

Fast forward two decades, and I'm considering rejoining the race, thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7. Coming in at $1,100, it's not cheap, but it's definitely something different compared to the world of black rectangles, and it it feels like Samsung’s Flip family has finally come of age.

Read more