Computerworld: Barnes & Noble's new Nook HD and Nook HD+ Android-based tablets are worthy competitors to Amazon's Kindle Fire.
Back in 2012, Microsoft entered into an agreement with Barnes & Noble to fund their (at the time, quite popular) e-reader/tablet, the Nook. The deal saw Microsoft invest over $300 million in exchange for a 17.6% stake in the rising digital business. However, after years of slumping Nook sales due to the rise of the Kindle and the iPad, as well as Microsoft releasing its own tablet, the Surface line, both companies have agreed to end the pact and split ways.
TechRadar - The Nook HD from bookstore giant Barnes and Noble makes some big claims for such a small tablet, as it looks to steal the limelight at the budget end of the market.
With the likes of the similarly priced Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD for company at the £159 price point, plus the slightly more expensive iPad mini, the Nook HD really needs to bring the fight if it wants to succeed.
Maximum PC: It's never been more affordable to own a name-brand tablet than it is now, especially with the recent price cuts. To further sweeten the pot -- and to remind everyone that yes, it too offers a tablet -- Barnes & Noble recently announced that anyone who purchases a Nook HD+ tablet between March 24, 2013 and March 31, 2013 is eligible to receive a free Nook Simple Touch eReader. That might seem a bit redundant, but if you look at it from the angle of shopping for yourself and for someone else at the same time, you can kill two birds with one stone.