Barnes and Noble Likely to Release New Color Tablet Next Week
Barnes and Noble (NYSE: BKS) has sent out invitation to media for an event Nov. 7 that many believe will be the launching of a new Nook Color Tablet.
The invite, which shows a green, stylized "N" and the words "please join us for a very special announcement," doesn't exactly tell us what Barnes and Noble will be announcing, but it's a fair assumption that it's a new tablet.
Rumors have been going around that Barnes and Noble will update its Nook device with better processor and additional design refinements. The Nov. 7 announcement will be in line with previous reports about a new tablet being launched at that date.
The new Barnes and Noble tablet will face stiff competition in the tablet market. Apple's iPad is still dominating tablet sales, but the big question is how will the Barnes and Noble tablet stand up against Amazon's Kindle Fire? The Kindle Fire, which officially goes on sale Nov. 15 for $199, already has 250,000 pre-orders. Barnes and Noble is expected to release a tablet that's close in price to the Kindle Fire to remain competitive.
Although there have been no details released about Barnes and Noble's new tablet, expect it to have the same 7-inch display as the Kindle Fire. Barnes and Noble could get a leg up against the Kindle Fire by releasing a tablet with more memory than Amazon's. The Kindle Fire only has 8Gb of memory and no expansion slot.
Barnes and Noble could price a faster and more powerful tablet at the $249 to $299 range to remain competitive and then price the original Nook at $199. The current model of the Nook comes with a 7 inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi connectivity, TI ARM Cortex A8 SoC 800Mhz processor and 8Gb of onboard storage with microSD expansion slot.