Note: This is a guest post written by Nancy Perkins
To say that the tablet computer field is going into overdrive this year is a mild understatement. Earlier this year there was the release of the brand new, better-than-ever, iPad from Apple. Recently, there were announcements regarding the impending Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Before that, the outstanding Google made its rounds in the conventions and got rave reviews from technology enthusiasts – making it the current dark horse competitor.
There was the sudden top-secret preview of the Microsoft Surface, which generated a lot of buzz online and made everyone look forward to its impeding release around the holidays this year. And of course, there is the groundbreaking news that the popularity of the Amazon Kindle Fire has increased rapidly.
The Kindle Fire’s headstart
The Kindle Fire is becoming popular among consumers for its pricing and efficiency. As a tablet, it can’t really compare to the other big name tablets in terms of performance—if you’re thinking of running a heavy-duty app for business VoIP like RingCentral, you can’t expect iPad level performance out of the Kindle Fire, which admittedly has a less sophisticated system for communications and live VoIP.
Apart from that, there are the rumors that a new Kindle will be released soon, considering the missing items from Amazon’s online Kindle store and the fact that it seems to be clearing out its stock. Amazon’s arch-competitor and one of the big names that hasn’t quite made a move this year, Barnes & Noble, is looking to step up the game a little against its fellow book-specialist, especially as Amazon seems to be aiming for the UK market next.
The Nook to be released in the UK
In order to combat the impending launch of the Kindle Fire and the Kindle line in the UK, Barnes & Noble beat the competition to the punch by releasing the line of Nooks ahead of the other company in that market.
This includes all the Nook’s black and white e-readers as well as the Nook Color. The black and white e-readers will be the first to be released in the United Kingdom in October, with the new online storefront for the UK within the Nook Digital Bookstore. The Nook’s bookstore boasts 2.5 million digital titles, as well as “partnerships with leading retailers” that will sell the books nationwide.
This is a move to counter the potential domination of the Kindle Fire in the UK, as Amazon has recently made a deal with leading UK retailer Waterstones, which authorizes the latter company to sell the Kindle devices and ebooks.
The business end of the move
Both the Kindle Fire and the Nook operate on modified versions of Google’s Android OS. Both have all the benefits of an open system like the Android. But this move by Barnes and Noble makes people look more at the Nook and try to figure out if the 300 billion-dollar investment that Microsoft made in the company will have any long-term effects on the overall performance.
Barnes and Noble has been building up its presence in the UK as well, so this certainly must be the first move in entering the rest of the European region.
Note: This guest post was written by Nancy Perkins
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