Barnes & Noble izstrādāja jaunu planšeti NOOK Tablet™

Barnes & Noble ir zināms daudziem. Tas ir plaši pazīstams grāmatu izdevējs, tirgotājs un arī e-grāmatu lasītāju ražotājs. Un tagad viņi savai saimei pievienoja jaunu planšeti NOOK Tablet™.

Nav jau brīnums, ka B&N izlaiž savu planšeti. Viņu galvenais konkurents Amazon taču ir izveidojis un tirgo savu planšeti - Amazon Fire. Tāpēc arī B&N nevar atpalikt un jāseko savam konkurentam. Varbūt pat jāmēģina tas pārspēt!
Un, tā kā tiek izlaists jauns produkts, tad vecajiem produktiem B&N samazina cenu. Tagad Vecais NOOK Color maksā par $30 lētāk - $169. Pašu planšeti Branes & Noble plāno tirgot par $199 (8 GB modeli) un $249 (16 GB modeli).

Jaunā iekārta ir 7 collu liela planšete. Ekrāns ir VividView™ krāsainais IPS skārienjūtīgais ekrāns. Iekārtas izmērs ir līdzīgs kā visiem 7" iekārtām - 205mm x 128mm x 12.2mm un sver tikai 400 gramus.
Jauno iekārtu darbinās 1 GHz divkodolu procesors. Bet operatīvās atmiņas apjoms katrai iekārtai ir savs - 8 GB modelim ir tikai 512 MB, bet 16 GB modelim ir 1 GB liela atmiņa. Un šī planšete ir krietni labāka, nekā viņu iepriekšējais modelis NOOK Color, kuram bija tikai 600 MHz procesors un 512 MB operatīvā atmiņa. Planšetes darba laiks tiek solīts kā 11.5 stundas lasīšanai un 9 stundas video atskaņošanai. Papildus klāt - NOOK Tablet būs aprīkots ar MicroSD atmiņas karšu lasītāju, kas atbalstīs atmiņas kartes līdz  pat  32 GB apjomam.
Visu šo uzparikti darbinās Android operētājsistēma. Līdz ar to daudziem entuziastiem būs vieta, kur izvērsties. Kā arī ir iekļauts Web pārlūks, kas atbalsta Adobe Flash tehnoloģiju. Un, protams, būs pilns ar Barnes  & Noble izstrādātām aplikācijām un tehnoloģijām, kas paredzētas e-grāmatu lasīšanai.
Un ar šo iekārtu varēs lasīt ne tikai e-grāmatas, bet to izmantot arī Web pārlūkošanai, mūzikas klausīšanai un video skatīšanai, kā arī dažādu aplikāciju lietošanai un spēļu spēlēšanai.
Jaunā iekārta izskatās interesanta un daudzsološa. Šādā izpildījumā tā satracinās esošo planšetu tirgu. Protams, iPad tirgus segmentu tas neaizņems, jo ir tikai 7" ekrāns, bet šādā veidā Apple būs grūtāk iespraukties 7"-8" iekārtu tirgū.
Ņemot vērā, ka to darbinās Android operētājsistēma, tad tur nevajadzētu būt problēmām izmantot un lietot arī parastās Android aplikācijas un spēles. Skatoties no sistēmas parametriem, tad šī iekārta spētu darbināt patiešām resursus prasošas aplikācijas. Un, skatoties pēc viņu mājaslapas datiem, tad it kā šo planšeti varētu pasūtīt arī uz Latviju.
Ja nu kāds lasītājs to ir pasūtījis vai arī ir personīgi pieskāries un aptaustījis, tad komentāros var atstāt savus iepaidus. Pats to neesmu turējis rokās, tāpēc nekādus personīgos iespaidus nevaru izteikt.
Un gribētos arī uzzināt, vai šajā planšetē būtu iespējams lasīt DRM aizsargātas e-grāmatas. Visdrīzāk, ka ar Aldiko e-grāmatu lasītāju šādas grāmatas varētu izlasīt. Bet vai to būtu iespējams izlasīt ar NOOK iebūvētajām tehnoloģijām? Un gan jau pašu e-grāmatu lasīšana uz šīs iekārtas būtu laba. Gan epub formāta, gan PDF formāta grāmatām. Jo arī pati aplikācija, ko Barnes & Noble bija izstrādājusi Android viedtālruņiem, bija ērta un viegli lietojama.

Pašu oficiālo preses relīzi var izlasīt zemāk (preses relīzes avots).

Barnes & Noble Introduces NOOK Tablet™ – 8GB For Incredibly Low Price of $199

New Addition to Hot-Selling, Highly Rated NOOK Tablet Line Offers Fastest, Lightest, Most Powerful Tablet with the Best in Reading and Entertainment,
Now in 8GB, at an Amazing Value

Award-Winning NOOK Color™ Now Offered at its Lowest Price Ever – $169

New York, New York – February 21, 2012 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today expanded its portfolio of bestselling NOOK® devices with the introduction of NOOK Tablet – with 8GB of memory, a tremendous value for the company's fastest and lightest tablet at just $199. NOOK Tablet – 8GB version offers reading and mobile entertainment enthusiasts another great option in the NOOK family of devices. In addition, the company's highly popular NOOK Color just became an even greater value at $169.

"For any customer who likes to read digitally, watch movies or TV shows, browse the web, or help their kids read and learn through interactive books and apps, our new $199 NOOK Tablet with 8GB is the best product value on the market," said William Lynch, Chief Executive Office of Barnes & Noble. "NOOK Tablet is the highest-rated wireless media tablet in the 7-inch class, ultra-portable at under a pound, offers our exclusive VividView™ screen technology, and since its introduction this holiday has received rave reviews from customers about all its great features. We're pleased to now offer customers the ability to experience NOOK Tablet's unmatched content experience for only $199."

The newest member of the NOOK Tablet family offers the great features of top-selling NOOK Tablet – 16GB, but with 8GB of on-board memory, 512MB of RAM and a lower cost of just $199. NOOK Tablet – 8GB version includes all of these great features also available on NOOK Tablet – 16GB ($249):

A highly tuned 1GHz dual-core processor for streaming video and lightning-fast Web browsing so customers can surf their favorite sites, and built-in email to stay easily connected with friends and family
Breakthrough battery life, with 11.5 hours of reading time or nine hours of video viewing
With on-board storage plus convenient microSD memory expansion, customers have ample space for their reading and entertainment content, regardless of Wi-Fi availability
The world's most advanced VividView display for viewing content, with 16 million colors and a resolution purity that's simply gorgeous
Popular movies, TV shows and music from top services including Netflix, Hulu Plus™, Flixster, Pandora®, Rhapsody®, Grooveshark, MOG and many more.
Thousands of top-rated, high-quality NOOK Apps, all optimized for NOOK Tablet's ultra-responsive 7-inch color touchscreen, in categories including Games, Kids, Travel, Education, Lifestyle & Interest, News & Weather, Social, Productivity and others. Favorites including Cut the Rope, Disney Publishing's It's a Small World and more are coming soon to the robust NOOK Apps catalog.
Barnes & Noble's award-winning reading experience, featuring more than 2.5 million digital books, periodicals, children's books and more, including:
NOOK Newsstand™: An expansive collection of more than 450 digital periodical titles, which includes the largest digital collection of top 100 magazines available for subscription and single copy purchase. Colorful interactive magazines offer Barnes & Noble's ArticleView™, animated page turns and smooth pinch, zoom and panning. Many special edition NOOK Magazines™ feature videos, quizzes, image galleries and more.
NOOK Kids™: More than 1,400 interactive children's picture books, some featuring animation and engaging activities, and more than 12,000 chapter books. With Read and Record™, customers can use NOOK Tablet's built-in microphone to record and save their reading of any NOOK Kids picture books so children can listen to their favorite storytellers anytime.
NOOK Comics and graphic novels: A vast collection of full-color comics, graphic novels and kids' comics in high resolution and the largest digital collection of Marvel's graphic novels available through a third party, as well as other titles from leading publishers including Archie, IDW and Dynamite. Through a partnership with VIZ Media, LLC, the largest publisher of anime and manga in North America, NOOK customers can access more than 30 series, featuring nearly 430 volumes.
Books and more: Continuously expanded NOOK Store™ with the vast majority of books available for $9.99 or less. Barnes & Noble's digital book collection includes PagePerfect™ NOOK Books™ featuring cookbooks, craft and art books rendered with rich precision to retain all the beauty of their stunning print versions, and enhanced reading with PDF thumbnail page views, and image pinch, zoom and pan in books and PDFs.
Discover and socialize: Learn what to read next from Barnes & Noble's knowledgeable booksellers with personalized recommendations, or connect through NOOK Friends™ to share thoughts, lend books through the exclusive LendMe® technology and more via email and sites like Facebook.
Continuous reading: Read what you love, anywhere you like™ on NOOK devices and with FREE NOOK Reading Apps. Sync your library, last page read, bookmarks, etc. across all of your devices through NOOK Cloud.
Sleek and thin with a soft touch back design, and lightweight at under a pound (14.1 oz.), making it easy to carry in a handbag, briefcase, backpack or suit jacket pocket for reading and entertainment on-the-go.

Customers can, as always, access their personal NOOK Library™ through the free, reliable and secure NOOK Cloud™ service, which also powers the seamless integration and synchronization between devices, as well as NOOK's best-in-class shopping experience and social features.

Says Lynch, "NOOK Tablet, NOOK Color and NOOK Simple Touch™ represent the highest-quality portfolio of reading and entertainment products on the market at the best value. Whether it's movies, music and apps on-the-go that you crave, or a simple, immersive reading experience, we offer great products and more choices than ever before with our product portfolio, starting at just $99."

NOOK Color: Now $169
The highly acclaimed NOOK Color, offering access to top video and music services, popular apps, comics and more, is now available at a new low price of just $169, starting today. The first Reader's Tablet, NOOK Color combines an award-winning reading experience with tablet essentials including apps, Web and email. NOOK Color customers can download Netflix to watch movies and TV shows, access a wide array of books, periodicals and comics, enjoy top music services and thousands of apps, browse the easy-to-use, social and streamlined NOOK Store.

Availability
NOOK Tablet – 8GB version is available for purchase today for $199 at www.nook.com and in Barnes & Noble stores, and will be available in leading retailers including Best Buy, Target and Walmart in the coming weeks. NOOK Color is now available in Barnes & Noble stores and www.nook.com for $169. Experience NOOK Tablet, NOOK Color and NOOK Simple Touch at www.nook.com or at the NOOK Digital Shops™, which feature the full portfolio of NOOK digital devices and FREE NOOK Reading Apps™, or displays in one of Barnes & Noble's nearly 700 bookstores and other leading retailers. Barnes & Noble offers Always Free NOOK Support in all of its neighborhood bookstores, with more than 40,000 NOOKsellers across the country ready to assist customers with setting up their NOOK devices or choosing their next great read.