Android tablets have come a lot in the last couple of years, unfortunately not because of an explosion of great tablet apps. Instead, Android tablets are more common thanks to the influx of media and such we can now enjoy from our tablets and smartphones. Coupled with low-cost, decent experience such as the Nexus 7 and those are some of the biggest reasons the Android tablet is popular today. Barnes & Noble’s Nook actually has a lot to do with smaller Android tablets gaining in popularity. The Nook Color launched some time ago, and an underground movement brought stock Android, and more important the Play Store to the Nook.
Since then, Barnes & Noble have the Nook Tablet range to offer folks, and these actually got an official update to bring the Play Store in all its glory to the Nook. However, as we’ve learnt over the years, added features make very little difference to something that’s been languishing on shelves. The Nook Tablet wasn’t popular, and it’s perhaps one of the bigger factors at play when it comes to the book giant’s steady decline. Price wasn’t an issue, and it isn’t even now, in fact you can pick a Nook Tablet from Amazon for around a hundred bucks, which is a pretty decent deal considering they sport good-looking displays. Despite the fact that the Nook isn’t used in the sentence as the Kindle Fire or the iPad, the company looks set to release another Nook tablet later this year. In a statement on Wednesday, the company’s CEO said “The Company is actively engaged in discussions with several world-class hardware partners related to device development as well as content packaging and distribution. As a result, we plan to launch a new Nook color device in early fiscal 2014”. The statement essentially tells us that new hardware is being worked on and could be here as early as this summer. Which certainly isn’t a bad thing, after all more choice is more choice.
If this latest Nook tablet were to launch with Google Play installed at launch, Nook would instantly be able to offer more apps, more games and more media options than even the Kindle Fire. of course, marketing and pricing will be a big part of how successful any new hardware is from Barnes & Noble. After all, Amazon isn’t shy about pushing the Kindle Fire heavily and making sure that people can get their hands on one even through finance.