Nook HD “Reader’s Tablet” spotted at the FCC, coming in time for Christmas
Just about a month ago, Barnes and Noble announced its new line of reading tablets, in response to both the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire. Although the original Nook Color arguably started the craze for cheap, small tablets, Barnes and Noble was a bit behind with its latest announcement. It didn’t help that the devices weren’t yet shipping, meaning even customers that wanted a Nook HD couldn’t get them.
Although it has taken an unusual amount of time, the tablets are finally coming closer to actually being released. The Nook HD is scheduled to be shipping on November 8, which is in just a couple of weeks. As such, it is no surprise that the tablet is passing through the FCC, although it is nice to know that progress is finally being made towards a release.
As a refresher, the Nook HD comes with a 7-inch 1440 x 900 resolution display, 1.3GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage at the $199 level. It also runs a heavily skinned version of Android 4.0, and includes some features not found on other budget 7-inch tablets, including a microSD card slot and a fully laminated display.
Ever since the original Nook Color, I’ve been a fan of Barnes and Noble’s tablet efforts. It may have been a little late with its Nook HD offering, but I still think that the tablets have the hardware and price needed to be at least a moderate success. Of course, once the Android hacking community gets their hands on the tablets, there’s no telling what will happen. Hopefully the tablets finally ship in early November, if only to keep Barnes and Noble competitive in the tablet game, and provide some more content focused competition to the Kindle Fire.
[Ubergizmo]
