Barnes & Noble on Tuesday introduced a new, low-priced Nook tablet computer the company said will meet the needs of "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."
Price tag on the new tablet is $199, the same price as the Amazon Fire.
Both have seven-inch screens and 8 gigabytes of memory.
The Nook's battery life is 11.5 hours of reading time or nine hours of video viewing, the company claims. The Amazon Fire offers about half that.
The Nook also offers microSD memory expansion, while the Amazon Fire does not.
Like Amazon fire, the new Nook offers access to Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and Rhapsody.
Also like the Amazon Fire, it offers Wi-Fi capability.
Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble lowered the cost of its Nook Color to $169.
In addition to Barnes & Noble store outlets, several large chains will sell the Nook, including Best Buy, Target and Walmart.
Barnes & Nobles' move will earn headlines and may attract existing customers, but it remains to be seen who will excel this year in tablet computers.
Amazon.com is developing a new Fire model. The price and features remain to be seen.
Apple may also be more competitive in price with the iPad 3, which may be released in a few weeks.
Fresno's Barnes & Noble store is located in the Villagio Retail Center, 7849 N. Blackstone Ave.
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