Book retailer Barnes & Noble announced on Monday that it has reduced the price of its three tablets: the 16 GB and 8 GB versions of its Nook Tablet, and its Nook Color. This could be an indication that the company is gearing up to launch a refreshed line of Nooks in the next few months, clearing out the current stock as a back-to-school promotion. Barnes & Noble may also be feeling the heat from Google's 16 GB $249 Nexus 7 tablet which just launched last month.
Starting Monday, customers can purchase the 16 GB version of the Nook Tablet for $199 whereas the 8 GB version will cost $179. The old-school Nook Color now costs a mere $149, available at all of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 stores nationwide, online at NOOK.com and through the other leading retailers offering Nook products (Staples, etc).
"Our Reader’s Tablets have consistently been the highest rated products by the leading technology experts and now they're available for the lowest prices ever," said Jamie Iannone, President of Digital Products at Barnes & Noble. "With Nook Color for $149 and Nook Tablet starting at $179, customers can enjoy our best-in-class digital reading and entertainment experience with an expansive selection of digital content and apps at an unbeatable price."
The Nook Color is essentially Barnes & Noble's 1st-generation tablet, sporting a 7-inch VividView color IPS touchscreen (1024 x 600, 169 PPI), 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, an 800 MHz Texas Instruments SoC, 512 MB of RAM, 8 GB of internal storage (6 GB free), a microSD card slot and a few other features. The OS is a modified version of Android with the company's own "launcher."
Naturally the specs in the Nook Tablet are somewhat better. The 2nd-gen gadget still sports a 7-inch VividView color IPS touchscreen (1024 x 600, 169 PPI) and 802.11 b/g/n connectivity. But this model comes packed with a 1 GHz Texas Instruments OMAP4 dual-core SoC and either 512 MB of RAM (8 GB model), or 1 GB of RAM (16 GB model). The microSD card adds up to 32 GB of storage, and the battery supposedly offers up to 11.5 hours of reading or 9 hours of video without recharging. This tablet also uses a modified Android OS with a Nook "launcher."
"Nook Tablet offers access to the world’s largest digital library of more than 2.5 million titles, popular movies, TV shows, music and more, plus thousands of high-quality Nook Apps, fast Web browsing, e-mail and expandable memory," the company said. "Nook Color provides tablet essentials at a great value for only $149. The 7-inch device is ideal for reading and exploring a variety of great content including books, magazines, interactive children’s books, apps, access to top video and music services, e-mail and Web browsing."
Last week Barnes & Noble announced that new Nook customers would receive a free collection of Disney eBooks with an in-store purchase of a 8 GB or 16 GB Nook Tablet. This limited-time offer ends on September 2 as part of the Barnes & Noble Nook Kids Summer Reading Program. The Disney collection includes the following:
* Winnie the Pooh: Party in the Wood
* Cars Read-Along Storybook
* Just Squidding (Phineas and Ferb Series #5)
* Cinderella Read-Along Storybook
* Toy Story 3: So Long, Partner
* The Great Tournament (Wizards of Mickey #1)
