B&N Nook Tablet: Everything we know now

[#1]

Barnes and Noble today unveiled its new tablet in the Nook line. Imaginatively-named the Nook Tablet, it's going head-to-head with Amazon's forthcoming Kindle Fire. Here's a rundown of the device...

What is it? It's a 7" tablet, running Android 2.3 ("Gingerbread"), with a 1GHz TI OMAP4 dual-core SoC, 1GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage, plus a microSD slot, weighing under a pound.

It has an IPS display, which should mean good viewing angles; B&N also claims it has low glare, when viewing in bright environments. The resolution is a widescreen 1024x600.

Includes b/g/n Wi-Fi Internet access, and free service in B&N stores, plus AT&T hotspots.

B&N claims a huge battery life: "nine hours" of video playback and "11.5 hours" of ebook reading. This with a battery that's "half the size" of an iPad's. Impressive, assuming these are realistic numbers.

Speaking of video, it comes with Netflix and Hulu Plus apps, and supports 720p HD (presumably downsampled for the 600 line display).

You can record your own audio book: B&N suggests parents might want to record themselves reading a book to their kids. (Is anyone excited by this feature? I know I'm not.)

Naturally, B&N loves to compare its new tablet against Amazon's upcoming Kindle Fire. The company claims it has more storage, more RAM, is lighter, has a better display, is more open, and it's available next week, for $250.

More coverage at Techmeme.

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst, specializing in blogging, email, spam, security, and other technology topics. His writing has won American Society of Business Publication Editors and Jesse H. Neal awards. You can encircle him at +richi, follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be his friend at Facebook.com/richij or just use boring old email: io@richij.com.

[#2]

While I am not excited about being able to record myself reading, this tablet appears to have a huge advantage over the Kindle Fire in that there is a mike....for 2-way audio messaging (such as Heytel) and device to device audio calling (such as textfree and others). This makes for a perfect vacation tablet....one to read on, surf on and if necessary communicate the old fashioned way (voice) with home.

[#3]

Interesting point. I wonder if such apps will be available via the B&N curated store, or whether we'll have to root it or flash a replacement ROM?

[#4]

While the "recording yourself reading a book to your kids" may not excite most, think of how nice if would be for a child who is hospitalized long term or has a parent serving in the armed forces to hear that parents voice via a simple sd card.  Maybe we all need to think more globally and realize other people's needs are different than our own.

[#5]

The ability to record your voice reading childrens' books is a boon for parents that are about to be sent overseas for a tour of duty. What better way of reminding small children that a mommy or daddy who can't be there still loves their child than reading them a book every night!!!

[#6]

These are great points. Thanks.

I suppose my unspoken concern was based on a vision of parents using this as a substitute for interacting with their kids. But of course, if that parent is absent, this is a different matter entirely.

[#7]

Well I for one AM excited about recording books to read to our grandchildren! When my husband is deployed yet again our grandchildren can listen to him read bedtime stories to them! Also my parents are getting up in age...what a great way to preserve thier voice! I say thumbs up for that feature!!! Guess I'm just a little sentimental,though!