Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet: Details Leaked; Tablet to Run on Android System?
Today, Barnes & Noble, the oldest book retailer in the U.S., will unveil plans for the newest addition to its gadget family: the Nook tablet.
Because of the success of the original Nook, a reading device, and its successor, the Nook Color, Barnes & Noble has decided to release a Nook tablet with a 1.2 GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP4 processor. Needless to say, their latest technology can do a lot more than help you read books.
The Nook tablet will have 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot that can hold up to 32GB, active battery life of four hours, inactive battery life of eight hours, and the same now-familiar 7-inch VividView IPS display as its predecessor.
The Amazon Kindle Fire’s competitor will also have 1GB of RAM, 802.11b/g/n WiFi (this is the only way it accesses the internet), and hosts support for a variety of file formats, like PDF, DOC, Flash, JPG, MP3, and MP4, among others.
In addition to upgraded specs, Barnes & Noble has managed to make the tablet lighter and thinner – weighing in at .9 oz less than the Nook Color and being .02 inches smaller – which should account for a bigger price tag of $249.
The Nook tablet comes with access to some software that was previously unavailable to the Nook Color: Hulu Plus, Rhapsody, MOG, Grooveshark, and Pandora cover music and videos, while Real Simple and The New York Times round out the library. Barnes & Noble has also expanded the games store, so users can be more entertained by Scrabble, for instance.
Most likely, the new Nook tablet will run some sort of an Android system, according to the technology blog Slashgear. This has yet to be confirmed, but the book company will announce the official details today.
The new device is available for pre-order today and in stores Nov. 16. In-store displays should start a day before on Nov. 15, to increase excitement surrounding the product.