Barnes & Noble aims to fend off Amazon's Fire with Nook Tablet

Amazon.com's Kindle Fire has drawn a lot of media and consumer attention as the latest, and perhaps the first legitimate, contender to the iPad.

But Barnes & Noble Inc. argues that Amazon is just following its lead. Nearly a year ago, the bookseller rolled out the Nook Color, a 7-inch device that it asserts is the second bestselling tablet behind Apple Inc.'s iPad.

Now Barnes & Noble is trying to fend off Amazon with the $249 Nook Tablet, which looks the same as the $199 Nook Color but has a horsepower boost that makes it a more polished product worth considering for those who don't want to, or can't, spend $499 on an iPad.

The Nook Tablet picks up where last year's Nook Color left off but adds improved hardware with a 1-gigahertz dual-core processor and 1 gigabyte of RAM and 16 gigabytes of storage. The Nook Color, selling at the same price as the Fire, features an 800-megahertz processor, 512 megabytes of RAM and 8 gigabytes of storage.

The two Nook devices have the same display, which impressively renders Web pages, movies and TV shows from Netflix and Hulu, as well as books, comics and magazines. Both also include a built-in email app.

The Nook Tablet and Nook Color share the same body, though the two are painted in different shades of gray, and both are plenty comfortable to hold in the hand, with a mix of high-quality hard plastics and a softer rubberized back.

Like the Fire, the Barnes & Noble tablets lack cameras, 3G or 4G options, Bluetooth capabilities and other features found in higher-priced tablets such as Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab line. However, unlike the Fire, the Nook Color and Nook Tablet have microSD card slots, which allow for expandable storage.

That's a good thing because the Nook Color and Nook Tablet allow only 1 gigabyte of storage for content purchased outside Barnes & Noble's Nook Store for books and apps. The rest, or 15 gigabytes for the Nook Tablet and 7 gigabytes for the Nook Color, is reserved for items purchased from the bookseller's online store.

The Nook Tablet improves over the Nook Color with small, noticeable differences such as faster load times for apps, smoother page turns for books and a more responsive operating system.

On the hardware side, the Nook Tablet outperforms the Nook Color and the Fire, but neither Nook can match the Fire's impressive library of music, movies and TV shows to stream or download.

Sure, the Nook offers access to Netflix and Hulu for video and MOG and Grooveshark for music, but streaming from those services requires a Wi-Fi connection. And when it comes to buying content to enjoy when Wi-Fi isn't around, Barnes & Noble (unlike Amazon) has no online storefront that sells music, movies and TV shows.

Amazon's Kindle Fire, Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet Gird for Battle

Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet now seem locked in open battle.

For each company, the stakes are very different. Amazon needed to expand upon its already-successful Kindle line, which until this point had centered on a series of gray-scale e-readers, in a way that allowed it to

leverage its already-considerable presence in music and video. The result, the 7-inch Kindle Fire, places it in direct competition with other tablets on the market, including Apple’s iPad.

Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color, released a year ago, offered some key advantages over those original gray-scale Kindles. The release of the Kindle Fire, however, blunted that edge; the bookseller is now relying on its new Nook Tablet to establish parity, at least in customers’ eyes, with Amazon’s offerings. The Nook Tablet is priced around $50 higher than the Kindle Fire, although Barnes & Noble executives have argued their device possesses advantages in screen quality and memory capacity.

Amazon began shipping the Kindle Fire to customers Nov. 14. Barnes & Noble followed suit with the Nook Tablet Nov. 16.

The Kindle Fire features tight integration with Amazon’s existing video, music and e-book services, along with its branded Appstore for Android. The 7-inch device also leverages a purpose-built “Amazon Silk” browser that relies on the retailer’s cloud architecture to speed Web page rendering. It requires WiFi to access streaming content.

The Nook Tablet, also 7 inches, doesn’t offer its own streaming video content, instead relying on partnerships with content companies such as Netflix and Pandora. Barnes & Noble also upgraded its gray-scale Nook Simple Touch with more advanced hardware and a lower price point, placing that end of its line on a similar collision-course with Amazon’s recently upgraded gray-scale Kindle devices.

Neither Barnes & Noble nor Amazon releases sales numbers for their respective e-readers, although it’s generally assumed that the Kindle maintains a healthy market share lead over the Nook. That being said, the Nook Color managed to carve out some attention and mindshare over the past year. Trust that the two companies, through marketing and other venues, will fight tooth and nail for holiday-shopping dollars, and not only against each other, but also the other color tablets on the market. 

Report: iTunes Replay could deliver re-downloadable movies and TV

A service called iTunes Replay could arrive any day from Apple, according to a new report by AppAdvice. ITunes Replay, a service that would allow users to re-download and possibly stream video content purchased on iTunes to multiple devices, was first rumored back in 2009, but never ended up seeing the light of day. The

difference between now and then, however, is that the mobile video landscape has changed dramatically, and Apple has already taken some first steps towards making such a service a reality.

According to two separate sources speaking to AppAdvice, Apple will launch iTunes Replay in the coming weeks, which will work by providing a little arrow next to TV show and movie content available in the iTunes store that qualifies for the service. Content marked with the arrow will be able to be downloaded multiple times to different devices, and likely streamed to some as well. The blog reports that some content will be limited to only five subsequent downloads, likely dependent upon rights negotiations with content providers, but that users will also be able to use iTunes Replay with previously purchased content, so long as it was bought after Jan. 1 2009.

If Apple has been working on such a service, it makes much more sense that we’d see it actually released to the public now in 2011, rather than in 2009. First, digital video sales is a completely different landscape. Netflix has prompted aggressive growth of streaming distribution, and Blockbuster has since declared bankruptcy, putting a huge dent in physical rentals. TV Everywhere initiatives by cable companies have also helped make device independent digital distribution more commonplace. Also, mobile video is a much more influential force, so providing greater access to iOS devices is in the best interest of content sellers.

Apple’s recent actions also indicate that the time for iTunes Replay to finally go public may have finally arrived. With the introduction of iCloud, users (in the U.S.) can now automatically download purchases made on one device, an iPhone for instance, onto another, like their Mac or iPad. And thanks to the latest Apple TV update, iTunes customers can already stream some TV content to that platform directly after purchase. Broadening the availability of multiple downloads and streaming of TV and movie content on iOS, Mac and TV is a logical next step.

I have no doubt that Apple would love to offer something like this to iTunes customers. The only question remains, are film and TV content providers ready to take that step? If rights negotiations began back in 2009 when this service first hit the radar, than that is definitely possible, especially given all that’s happened in the meantime.

Netflix raising prices as much as 60%

Netflix Inc., America's largest video subscription service, is hiking prices as much as 60% in a move that has sparked outrage among its customers but brought smiles to Hollywood studio executives.
The service will no longer offer a $9.99 plan that lets users watch an unlimited number of movies online and

rent one DVD at a time. Instead, subscribers who want that combination will have to pay a total of $15.98 a month — $7.99 for Netflix Instant streaming and $7.99 to receive discs in the mail.
The changes take effect immediately for new customers and in September for existing ones. Tony Wible, an analyst with Janney Capital Markets, estimated that 80% of Netflix's 22.8 million U.S. subscribers currently use a DVD/streaming combination plan and will be affected by the price hike. The company launched a $7.99 streaming-only plan late last year.
Reactions to Netflix's biggest-ever price increase were swift and overwhelmingly negative. More than 10,000 people had responded to the news on Netflix's Facebook page by late Tuesday, nearly all of them critical.
"A 60% hike with no added value is outrageous," said Courtney Penly, a 28-year-old limousine company dispatcher from North Hollywood. "Unless Netflix is going to offer its entire library via streaming, then I am canceling."
In a statement, Netflix's chief service and operations officer, Andy Rendich, said the new prices "better reflect … the underlying costs" and represent a better value for people who want only DVDs.
A Netflix spokesman said executives would elaborate on reasons for the price change when reporting the company's financial results July 25. But analysts pointed out that the company faces escalating costs to acquire content for its digital streaming library.
Consumers will end up paying more money or, if they switch to a cheaper plan, accessing less content. Either way, Netflix will benefit from higher revenue or lower costs, freeing up cash for the Los Gatos, Calif., company to buy digital rights to more movies and TV shows.
Subscribers who choose the online-only option won't have access to popular recent releases like "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" or "Little Fockers." Those who opt just for discs will need to wait two days, instead of two minutes, from the time they request a movie until they can watch it.
People who want multiple DVDs out at a time will pay $4 more for each additional disc. There are also surcharges for high-definition Blu-ray discs.
Executives at several Hollywood studios, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the subject, said Tuesday that they were pleased by Netflix's move. The higher prices should help address concerns that the service was undervaluing studios' content and encouraging consumers to avoid options that are more profitable for the studios, such as video-on-demand rentals and Blu-ray purchases.
Studios have already taken numerous steps to limit Netflix's appeal. Four studios prevent the company from offering some newly released DVDs until 28 days after they go on sale in stores. Three others keep their films off the Netflix Instant streaming service until they finish airing on HBO — about seven years after their home video release.
Recently, Sony Pictures films disappeared from Netflix Instant because of a provision in the studio's contract with pay cable channel Starz. That clause set a limit on the number of people who could access Sony movies online, a number that Netflix has exceeded. If some users switch to a DVD-only plan, that could put Netflix back under Sony's cap and bring the studio's films like "The Social Network" and "The Karate Kid" back to the service.
Netflix has raised its prices several times before, most recently in January, but never to such a dramatic degree. It remains to be seen what the news will mean to its bottom line. On Tuesday, Netflix's stock, which has risen 66% this year, rose 5 cents to $291.27.
"We believe the unprecedented size of the potential increase and the lack of consistent [past] data makes it difficult to assess the net benefit or loss from the change," analyst Wible wrote in a research note.
Eric Wold, director of research for Merriman Capital, said, "We would not be surprised if existing Netflix subscribers reevaluate their monthly subscription." He predicted that the move could benefit the company's largest competitor: kiosk rental company Redbox, which offers DVDs for $1 a night.
Other beneficiaries could be pay cable channels like HBO, which is competing with Netflix as the latter company gobbles up rerun rights to television shows such as AMC's "Mad Men" and movies from independent studios like Relativity Media, maker of the March hit "Limitless." The $15.98 price for Netflix's one-disc-at-a-time plan with online streaming is the same monthly cost as HBO.
Rental chain Blockbuster, which was recently acquired by Dish Network, used the opportunity Tuesday to remind consumers of its recently lowered prices to rent DVDs in stores and its plans to develop a subscription streaming offering.
Netflix has made changes that provoked subscriber complaints before, with no apparent effect on its subscriber base. When it signed its first deal with a studio that included 28-day delays for new releases in early 2010, many users expressed outrage online. However, the company added 9.63 million subscribers in the last year. In March, it surpassed Comcast Corp. as the nation's largest subscription video provider.
Nonetheless, many users on Tuesday were adamant that they wouldn't pay a higher bill during tough economic times. Karla Hernandez, a 25-year-old music supervisor in Encino, said she didn't find any of Netflix's new plans compelling enough to continue with the service.
"The price increase seems really unreasonable," she said. "Having limited options with just one plan or paying $16 for both options doesn't seem worth it."

TCM Plans Elizabeth Taylor Tribute, 'Law & Order' Star Gets New Gig and More

Turner Classic Movies is planning a tribute to honor the late Elizabeth Taylor.

On April 10, the channel will air back-to-back movies from the screen legend, including 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,' 'Butterfield 8' and 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' beginning at 6AM.

Taylor died today from congestive heart failure. She was 79.

In other TV news ...

• 'Law & Order' star S. Epatha Merkerson is going from the law to medicine in a new CBS pilot. The actress will play the administrative assistant to Patrick Wilson's surgeon character. [The Hollywood Reporter]

• Lauren Graham's Sarah Braverman will get yet another new love interest, this time played by Steven Weber. The actor has booked a guest spot on 'Parenthood''s season finale, with the potential to return next season. [TV Line]

• Soon, Netflix subscribers won't be able to stream current seasons of Showtime series anymore. The network said it will still make past seasons and old shows available. [Deadline]

• Another 'Off the Map' cast member is branching out. Jason George will guest star in an episode of 'Castle' called 'To Love and Die in L.A.' The installment will air later this season. [Entertainment Weekly]

• Former 'Dancing With the Stars' contestant Kristy Swanson will appear on an episode of 'Psych.' The actress will play a mysterious woman suspected of killing someone "vampire-style." Hmm, flashbacks to Swanson's role as the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, anyone? [TV Guide]