RIP Nook Tablet. Nvidia / Asus Announce a 7 inch Tablet ($249)

[spdsl]

Asus CEO Jerry Shen on stage, who unveiled a 7-inch tablet (as rumored last week). The new device (purportedly called the Memo 370T) will be priced at only $249, runs Ice Cream Sandwich and houses a quad-core Tegra 3, a 1280x800 IPS display, 1GB of memory and an 8MP camera. Huang says it's nearly as powerful as the Transformer Prime. No details on availability yet
Nvidia at CES: New Tegra 3 tech, 7-inch tablet, ICS on Transformer Prime - TechSpot News

 

[probbiethe1]

do you think this will also effect the kindle fire sense it is only 50 dollars more and you get some much more with it?

 

[spdsl]

I think the Kindle fire will hold its own. Amazon as a content provider his hard to compete against. The Amazon app store is just as good if not better than the Google Market. Fifty dollars less for the Fire is quite a bit of money saved expecially for those users who just want a device that works well with their content provider and don't care about rooting and custom roms. B&N does not have a app store to speak of and their provider content is weak. When you compare hardware to hardware why would you pay the same price for neutered Nook Tablet vs a Asus device. B&N will have to lower the price of its tablet to compete but it will just drive them out of buisness that much faster.

 

[J515OP]

That is awesome if it isn't just vapor ware. If it makes it to market and at that price, watch out! As far as the Amazon app store being as good as Google Market, well I can't entirely agree with that. Yes it does somethings better than Google Market but ultimately it only has about 1/10 the apps as Google Market. As far as Fire being spared because it is $50 cheaper and comes with an Amazon eco system? Don't count on it. This is just one more of many tablets getting down to the competitive price of Fire. In fact the value proposition of Fire is nearly non-existent when you look at the tablet landscape today and factor in refurbs and sales.

The table(t)s have turned and I don't think they are in favor of either B&N or Amazon's current tablet offerings. A year ago they would have been games changers just not now.

 

[spdsl]

Personally I am a Nook Color owner and applaud the modding communities effort. Their hard work and modding are ignored by the mainstream media and they receive no credit for the new 7" Portable Tablet popularity, but the Nook Tablet is a pass for me. It seems that the capabilities and quality of the 7" inch tablet or the "Portable tablet" as I like to call it will be blessed with affordable top of the line manufacturers in the coming year. Unfortunately B&N has taken the attitude of denying that the Modding community has made the Nook Color / Tablet as popular is it is. So popular it caught Amazons, Apple, and the other behemoth manufacturers attention and now they are developing Portable tablets. So what does the BN tablet have to offer today much less six months from now when other Portable tablets come online???? Price, Content, Hardware???.. None of the above especially if they continue on their quest of locking down their hardware and OS. I see no future in the Nook tablet from a price point, freedom of content choice and further rooting development.

I agree with your synopsis in part. Technology changes very fast and persons that frequent forums like this one and XDA are ahead of the curve on technology and the best bang for your buck. But on the flip side the Goliath that Amazon is will have no problem lowering the price of their hardware and content making it very attractive for the every day user. The every day user that wants to push a button and have the simple ease of content provided for them.

 

[J515OP]

"Portable Tablet" I like that. I personally am looking forward to just the type of tablet being proposed.

The Nook Color was revolutionary because of the community that latched on to it and made it more than it was and put it on par with tablets 3 or 4 times its price. It really had nothing to do with B&N except they accidentally and temporarily became a desirable hardware provider. Now the flood gates have opened and it isn't about subsidizing hardware to lock people into your digital ecosystem. The hardware manufacturers themselves have skin in the game and they will make the hardware as necessary to sell to low end, mid grade and high end regardless of what ecosystem players are trying to do.

B&N is stuck because they aren't going to be able to create a large enough ecosystem outside their niche or competitive hardware. They might not need to if they focus their efforts along their original strategy lines for the Nook Color and market e-reader-tablets. As long as they are selling more digital subscriptions they may be able to stay alive a little longer (obviously they need to make some sort of transition from their current business model). They are pretty strictly a publishing outlet and whether it is physical books and magazines or digital ones, that is the only game they can really play.

Amazon is just dipping its toes in the water. Its app store is not just accessible to Amazon devices so there is already a breach in its wall. Why would you need to buy an Amazon device if you can already access Amazon content on other devices? Why would you buy an Amazon device if you can only buy Amazon content? They needed to get in the game and the Fire allowed them to do that but it isn't any sort of game changer. They can establish a secondary route for their Kindle line and future proof publishing sales in the digital realm but primarily they can become an app retailer just as they became a book/everything retailer.

At this point in Android development you can be a hardware manufacture or have some sort of software/software ecosystem that works with Android. I don't think you can be both a la Apple. The other Android competitors will eat you alive if you try and be locked down with your own hardware and ecosystem within Android.