While Barnes & Noble seems to be the least talked about in the 7-inch tablet wars, it's not to be forgotten, especially now that Amazon is gearing up to reveal its Kindle refresh on Thursday in Santa Monica. Engadget reports that an unknown source has conveniently stepped forward and confirmed that the book retailer does indeed plan to release a Nook Tablet sequel this fall. Nope, nothing surprising here.
According to the source, the gadget will be "super light" while packing an "incredible display" in the process. These descriptions are rather generic and expected to say the least given the competition, but the source also added that the screen will sport 243 pixels per inch (ppi), slightly higher than Google's Nexus 7 (216 ppi) but less than the iPad (264 ppi). That too seems convenient.
The source also indicated that the upcoming tablet's industrial design will be handled by Robert Brunner of Ammunition Group who has done work for Logitech, the Microsoft Hardware Innovation Group, Panasonic and of course Barnes & Noble's initial Nook line. The book retailer will also reportedly launch a brand new video store alongside the tablet that will take advantage of its "incredible" display.
Just last month, Barnes & Noble announced that it was slashing the price of its Nook Tablet and Nook Color devices, now selling for a starting price of $179 and $149 respectively. The price cut was an indication that the book retailer wanted to undercut Google's own Nexus 7, to generate sales for the back-to-school season, and to move product in order to make room for the next generation of devices.
"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."
So far Barnes & Noble hasn't announced anything official, but we expect something to arrive soon once both Amazon and Apple reveals what they have hidden up their sleeves.
