Barnes and Noble to open Nook Tablet $50 above Kindle Fire(Photo-Video)

Barnes & Noble Inc. this week said it will sell the new Nook Tablet at $249.00.

The Nook Tablet includes a 7-inch 1024 x 600 display, 1.2GHz Dual-Core CPU, 1GB RAM, 16GB Memory, 11.5 hours of reading time or nine hours of video viewing.

The final product will weigh at 14.1 ounces, 10 percent lighter than the Nook Color.

Pre-order sales for the Nook Tablet begin Nov. 7, with units shipping to customers around Nov. 17.

In addition, the Nook Simple Touch e-reader sells at $99.00 and the Nook Color MSRP has dropped $50 to Nook Color holds a price of $199.99.

By comparison, Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire, to be sold Nov. 15, includes a full-color 7-inch multi-touch IPS display, Dual-Core CPU, 8GB Internal Memory, Wi-Fi functionality, and up to eight hours of battery life at $199.00.

Applications include the Amazon Silk Browser, E-Mail, Amazon Instant Video, Amazon Appstore, and Amazon Cloud Drive with unlimited cloud storage for Amazon content.

Finally, each Kindle Fire will include a free month of Amazon Prime membership.

Amazon in Sept. announced new Kindle models including the Kindle at $79.00, the Kindle Touch with touch display and built-in Wi-Fi at $99.00, and the Kindle Touch 3G which adds free 3G wireless functionality at $149.00.

Google Launches A Slick Music Beta App For iOS — Web, Not Native

Now that Google Music Beta has been out there for a few months, it’s time to focus on how to get people to use it. One key: mobile.

While Google launched an Android app for Music Beta alongside the initial unveiling at I/O this year (it’s baked into the Music app), iOS users were SOL. Not anymore. Today, Google has rolled out an app so they

can get in on the fun as well. But it’s not a native app, it’s a mobile web one. And it’s still pretty slick.

While the app still has the Safari chrome around it, it functions smoothly. You can easily play all of your songs, search, shuffle, etc. Swiping left and right takes you between Artists, Albums, Songs, etc. The transitions are very well done.

The music even continues to play in the background when you exit Safari. And it can be controlled by the iOS music controls.

And yes, it all streams from the cloud. You can get to it simply by directing your iOS Safari browser at music.google.com.

I’ve asked Google if there are any plans for a native app as well. That will be key for travel, etc. I’ll update when I hear back.

Interestingly enough, while Amazon’s rival cloud music service works on iOS through the browser now, we hear there are plans of a native app…

Update: Says Google on the topic of a native iOS app, “we’re considering all options to bring the service to more people, but don’t have anything official to share.”

Amazon's cheaper Android tablet could change the industry

Apple has made it look easy with the iPad.

It has sold tens of millions of the tablet computers -- singularly defining an entire category of mobile devices -- as competitors have tried and failed to gain any significant traction against it.

But there will likely be a newcomer to the race this fall that could change the tablet industry forever.

Online retail giant Amazon has hinted that it plans to offer its own tablet computer running Google's Android operating system, perhaps as early as October.

Research firm Forrester said last week that it expects Amazon to sell 3 million to 5 million tablets in the fourth quarter this year if it can keep up with the demand.

The main reason: Amazon is willing to sell hardware at a loss.

Amazon's tablet could be priced at $300 or lower, significantly less than the base-level $500 iPad.

Like Apple, Amazon is also in the business of selling e-books, streaming movies and digital music. The more tablets it has in users' hands, the more e-books it can sell to them -- which is where Amazon is hoping to make even more money.

"Amazon's quick ascension in the tablet market will completely disrupt the status quo," said the report's author, Sarah Rotman Epps.

Amazon has sold millions of its Kindle e-readers using this strategy. The Kindle starts at $114 for the ad-supported WiFi version.

Software follows hardware

The likely success of a tablet from Amazon would be sure to invigorate the Android software system, which has faltered without a compelling piece of hardware.

Several Android tablets have been released this year, but each has landed with a thud -- too heavy, too expensive or just not quite there.

That has kept many software developers from creating apps for Android tablets, which causes even more consumers to choose the iPad.

Google doesn't make an exact count of tablet-optimized apps available, but most educated guesses place it in the low three figures.

Apple has more than 120,000 apps for its tablet.

A blockbuster tablet from Amazon would change things, creating a serious incentive for tablet app developers to work on both platforms.

I don't often advocate waiting on the sidelines for an eventual product release.

But the prospect of a less-expensive Android tablet, especially when paired with the expansive digital media offerings of Amazon, is enough to give a buyer some serious pause this fall.

Sony to upgrade e-readers, hoping to catch Kindle, Nook

Sony plans to introduce a line of upgraded digital book readers in the U.S. as early as next month to challenge Kindle maker Amazon.com.
The current Sony Reader, now priced from $180 to $300, will probably be offered with hardware and

software improvements in August, Phil Lubell, vice president of digital reading at Sony Electronics, said Wednesday.
The new products will be introduced to U.S. consumers before Sony's first tablet-computer models, which are scheduled to go on sale later this year. The Tokyo-based company, whose readers trail behind the Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook, plans to continue its push to sell dedicated digital readers because they are cheaper than tablets, Lubell said.
"Sony appears to be struggling to expand its e-reader business as fast as it had originally planned," said Nobuo Kurahashi, an analyst at Mizuho Financial Group in Tokyo.
The number of Americans who own an electronic reader such as Kindle doubled in the six months to May as college graduates and adults in the highest income category choose the devices over tablet computers, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.
Twelve percent of those surveyed owned an e-reader in May, up from 6 percent in November 2010, while 8 percent owned tablets in May, up from 5 percent six months earlier.
The reason for the faster adoption of e-readers may be that they are often less expensive than tablets, with the Kindle starting at $114, compared with the iPad 2's $499.
"We think there will still be a market for dedicated readers as long as tablets remain in the $500 price range," Lubell said.
Sony also plans to incorporate its online book store and e-book technology into its two tablet-computer models later this year as part of a group of Sony multimedia applications, Lubell said.