Barnes & Noble on Wednesday unveiled its own lighter and thinner
hi-definition tablets that can accommodate multiple users.
The company introduced the 7-inch NOOK HD and the 9-inch NOOK HD+
tablets. Price tags are ranging from $199 for the 7-inch Nook HD
tablet with 8GB of memory, to $299 for the 9-inch Nook HD+ tablet,
similar in size to Apple's iPad, with 32GB of memory. IPad prices
are roughly twice as high for similar devices.
NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ are designed to provide a personalised
experience for individuals and their family members, allowing
children to enjoy all the content they love without happening upon
all that parents would rather they didn't see. NOOK Profiles
instantly transform the device in hand to any family member's very
own tablet. With a tap on a profile at the top of the screen, the
entire experience changes into that family member's personal tablet
as their own content appears on the display.
The new NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ are optimised reading, Web, video and
email. The newly designed Web browser in NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ is
very fast making it simple and smooth to surf favourite sites with a
tap, pinch and zoom. Integrated into the Web browser, ArticleView
allows you to customise your online reading experience. Both NOOK HD
and NOOK HD+ will offer access to a collection of popular movies and
TV shows through new NOOK Video coming to the UK this holiday. And
an all-new built-in email app offers new features in an easy-to-use,
clean format that supports a host of popular personal and
work-related email services including Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.
NOOK HD offers the highest-resolution IPS display ever on a 7-inch
tablet at 1440 x 900, with a 243 pixels per inch and HD video
playback of up to 720p. It has 25 percent more pixels than Amazon's
Kindle Fire HD.
At only 315 grams and just 127 mm wide, the 7-inch tablet is more
than 20 percent lighter and one centimetre narrower than Kindle Fire
HD. It is armed with a dual-core 1.3GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.
The 9-inch NOOK HD+ offers a full HD 9-inch display with resolution
of 1920 x 1280 and 256 pixels per inch. It weighs 515 grams and is
powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM.
NOOK HD offers up to 10.5 hours of continuous reading and up to 9.5
hours of video watching, while NOOK HD+ boasts up to 10 hours and up
to 9 hours for reading and video, respectively, all with Wi-Fi off.
In addition to generous onboard storage, NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ also
feature expandable memory using a separate microSD card (up to 64GB)
NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ are designed with customised speakers and
utilise SRS TruMedia to create a wide sound field.
The company is also launching a new video-streaming and download
service for Nook, narrowing the gap with Amazon and Apple, which
offer more content on their devices.
Below you see a comparison among the Nook HD+, the 9.7-inch iPad and Amazon's Kindle Fire HD 8.9.
|
Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ |
Apple iPad |
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 |
| Screen size |
9 inches |
9.7 inches |
8.9 inches |
| Resolution |
1,920 x 1,280 |
2,048 x 1,536 |
1,920 x 1,200 |
| Pixel density |
256 ppi |
264 ppi |
254 ppi |
| Weight |
1.14 pounds |
1.44 or 1.46 pounds |
1.25 pounds |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) |
6.4 x 9.5 x 0.45 inches |
7.3 x 9.5 x 0.37 inches |
6.4 x 9.4 x 0.35 inches |
| CPU |
Dual-core 1.5GHz OMAP4470 |
Dual-core 1GHz Apple A5X (quad-core graphics) |
Dual-core 1.5GHz OMAP4470 |
| Storage |
16GB or 32GB + microSD card slot |
16GB, 32GB or 64GB |
16GB or 32GB |
| Connectors |
Proprietary connector |
Apple 30-pin dock connector |
microUSB, microHDMI |
| Operating System |
Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) |
iOS 6 |
Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) |
| Battery Life |
9 hours of video playback (6,000 mAh) |
10 hours of video playback (11,666 mAh) |
Unknown |
| Camera |
None |
5MP rear camera, VGA front camera |
HD front camera |
| Networking |
Wi-Fi |
Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and 2G, 3G, 4G LTE |
Dual-band Wi-Fi or dual-band Wi-Fi and 2G, 3G, 4G LTE |
| Price |
$269 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB |
$499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB (Wi-Fi); $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, $829 for 64GB (Wi-Fi + cellular) |
$299 for 16GB, $369 for 32GB (Wi-Fi); $499 for 32GB, $599 for 64GB (Wi-Fi + cellular) |