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Barnes & Noble takes on Amazon, Apple with tablet

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Published : Nov. 8, 2011 - 11:28

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US bookseller Barnes & Noble unveiled a tablet computer on Monday in a bid to take on Apple's iPad and an upcoming device from digital book-selling rival Amazon.

The Nook Tablet will cost $249 -- $50 more than than the Kindle Fire from Amazon which goes on sale on November 15 but $250 less than the cheapest iPad.

This product image provided by Barnes & Noble Inc., shows the new $249 Nook Tablet, which was unveiled Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, in New York. The e-book reader includes more features of a full-blown tablet than its prior offerings as the tablet wars heat up ahead of the all-important holiday season. (AP-Yonhap News) This product image provided by Barnes & Noble Inc., shows the new $249 Nook Tablet, which was unveiled Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, in New York. The e-book reader includes more features of a full-blown tablet than its prior offerings as the tablet wars heat up ahead of the all-important holiday season. (AP-Yonhap News)

Amazon and Barnes & Noble were among the first companies to sell electronic book readers and both are now staking a claim to the tablet market which has been dominated by the iPad.

The Nook Tablet will allow users to surf the Web using Wi-Fi connectivity, do email, watch TV shows and movies and listen to music in addition to serving as an e-book reader.

Barnes & Nobel's online bookstore offers more than 2.5 million titles.

The Nook Tablet comes with a number of pre-loaded applications including Netflix, Hulu Plus and Pandora.

It has a seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) color screen like the Kindle Fire.

The iPad has a 9.7-inch (24.6-cm) screen.

The Nook Tablet has 16 gigabytes of memory and Barnes & Noble said its battery life enables 11.5 hours of reading or nine hours of video viewing.

The device will go on sale in Barnes & Noble's 700 US stores on November 17.

Barnes & Noble also announced Monday it was cutting the price of its cheapest e-reader, the Nook Simple Touch, to $99. Amazon's cheapest Kindle costs $79.

Sarah Rotman Epps of technology research firm Forrester gave the Nook Tablet a rave review and said Barnes & Noble could sell 1.5 million to two million of the devices over the holiday season.

"Still, Barnes & Noble is David taking on not one but two Goliaths: B&N's market cap is just $700 million, compared with $100 billion for Amazon and $370 billion for Apple," she said.

Rotman Epps said she expected Amazon to sell up to four million Kindle Fires over the holiday and for Apple to move 20 million iPads in the fourth quarter.

Barnes & Noble shares were down 2.07 percent at $11.37 in late trading on Wall Street while Amazon shares were up 0.15 percent at $216.81. (AFP)

 

<한글 기사>

반즈앤노블, 새 태블릿PC 공개

미국의 대형 서점 체인 반즈앤노블은 7일(현지시간) 애플의 아이패드 및 아마존의 킨들 파이어와 맞붙을 태블릿 PC `누크 태블릿'을 공개했 다.

17일부터 반즈앤노블 미국 매장에서 판매될 누크 태블릿은 전자책 보기 이외에 와이파이를 이용한 웹 서핑, 이메일, 동영상 및 음악 재생 등의 기능을 갖췄다.

킨들 파이어와 같은 7인치 컬러화면이며 16GB 내장 메모리에 넷플릭스, 훌루 플 러스, 판도라 등 다수의 어플이 탑재된다.

전자책 단말기로 사용하면 11시간 반, 동영상을 시청하면 9시간 연속 재생이 가 능하다고 반즈앤노블은 설명했다.

가격은 249달러로 15일 판매가 시작되는 킨들 파이어보다는 50달러 높고 최저가 아이패드보다는 250달러 낮다.

시장조사업체 포레스터는 누크 태블릿에 대해 극찬하며 연휴 기간 150만대에서 200만대의 판매를 예상했다.

하지만 "아마존의 1천억 달러와 애플의 3천700억 달러와 비교하면 반즈앤노블의 시장 규모는 7억 달러에 불과하다"며 "반즈앤노블은 여전히 두 골리앗을 상대해야 하는 다윗"이라는 평가도 덧붙였다.

포레스터는 킨들 파이어는 연휴 기간 400만대, 아이패드는 4분기 2천만 대가 판매될 것으로 전망했다.

반즈앤노블은 또 전자책 단말기 중 가장 저렴한 `누크 심플 터치'의 가격을 99달러까지 내리겠다고 밝혔다. 아마존 킨들의 최저가는 79달러다.

이날 반즈앤노블의 주가는 뉴욕에서 2.07% 하락한 11.37달러에 마감됐다.