Tablets

Nook Tablet or Kindle Fire?

That's the question that's already bedeviling consumers and gadget aficionados alike.

In a matter of weeks, it seems, the tablet market has been compressed to just a handful of choices. The iPad 2 still rules the high end ($500 and above), but the "e-reader as tablet" option now looms large in the sub-$250 range, with the $199 Kindle Fire going mano a mano with the $249 Nook Tablet.

The Kindle Fire has just started shipping, and the Nook Tablet will follow as soon as tomorrow (a few days earlier than originally expected).

Last year, Barnes & Noble released the Nook Color at the same $249 price. Back then, a 7-inch color e-reader that could run apps as well as read color books and magazines, and even play movies and music, was a revelation. The Android tablet could even be rooted--to many, it became known as the not-so-secret most-affordable Android tablet around with the best design (other similarly priced and more-generic Android tablets are, by comparison, terrible).

With the Fire on the horizon, Barnes & Noble knew it had to up the ante.… Read more

The month is almost up, and Karyne is beating Emily by a smidge. With only two shows left, however, it's time to start thinking of embarrassing things for Emily to do when she loses.

On this week's show, we cry over CDs going the way of the dodo; we laugh about Staples selling the PlayBook for $199; Google Music is going to 11, whatever that means, at an event on Wednesday; and according to nobody, the iPad 3 will be able to fly.

Things are heating up in the Twitter wars, too! Stephen, at the time of the … Read more

Now this is more like it.

For as long as I can remember, I've dinged the iPad and its 10-inch competitors for being way too expensive. I mean, come on, $500? That's Core i5 computer money!

But today, Newegg has a tablet deal that's much more reasonable: the Toshiba Thrive 10-inch Android Honeycomb tablet for $299.99 shipped. You even get a free Blue Moon back cover (a $13.99 value).

Update: Sigh. Sold out already. (Do check back later, though, as Newegg sometimes manages to free up more stock.) That's why you gotta get here … Read more

Writing CNET's official review of the Kindle Fire was probably the toughest assignment I've had all year. This is a tablet that wears its price tag like a bulletproof vest. The standby criticisms don't work. Holding it up to an iPad, I may as well be comparing a Vespa to a Mercedes.

That isn't to say that the Kindle Fire couldn't have flopped. I've seen my share of cheap tablets before and I haven't flinched at flunking them. Nine times out of 10, it's the screen that ruins things. On a tablet, the screen is the foundation of the entire experience. It's the window to the software; it's the substance of the navigation; it's the keyboard; it's the game controller.

Fortunately, Amazon didn't cheap out on the screen, though (spoiler alert!) I was surprised that it only supports two-finger multitouch. My three-finger Fruit Ninja technique was ruined. … Read more

As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of a 7-inch tablets, which I think are more practical for everyday use than 10-inch models.

While supplies last (and they may not last long), Secondipity has the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch tablet with 3G for $249.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code galaxy4u at checkout.

Let's do a little comparison shopping, shall we? The Kindle Fire is priced at $199, while the just-announced Nook Tablet runs $249. What does the Galaxy Tab offer that those models don't? Three key features: Bluetooth, front- and rear-facing cameras, … Read more

Karyne may be up a point on the Rumor board, but I'm winning where it actually counts: on Twitter.

As of this writing, I have 232 followers and Karyne has 223.

OK, you can stop laughing now.

We realize, of course, that those numbers are embarrassingly low. So follow us, guys! (@EmilyDreyfuss, @karynelevy, @RumorShow.) Our new high-stakes side bet is who can get to 500 first. Maybe the lucky 500th follower of the winner will get a prize!

The rumors on today's show are of the spiciest variety: sightings of the first quad-core phone (which some people really don't want); two new iPads in 2012; all-new Apple products next year (huzzah); and Siri may ruin my life by coming to old iOS devices. … Read more

After September's Kindle Fire announcement from Amazon.com, it was only a matter of time before rival bookseller Barnes & Noble retaliated with a new e-book-friendly tablet.

Update, November 18 at 1:12 p.m. PT: CNET's rated reviews of the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet are now available. The following text has been updated to reflect the observations made in these reviews.

Bearing a striking resemblance to Barnes & Noble's previous effort (the Nook Color--which remains on the market at $199), the Nook Tablet outguns the Kindle Fire in a few key specs.

The most notable differences are the amount of system RAM (1GB on the Nook Tablet, versus 512MB on the Kindle Fire); the amount of integrated storage (16GB versus 8GB on the Kindle Fire); and the inclusion of microSD memory expansion on the Nook Tablet.

Unfortunately, the improved specs of the Nook Tablet come at a $50 premium over the $199 Kindle Fire. Then, there are the details that are not easily broken down on a spec sheet. Once you get past the silicon, these tablets are essentially windows into different storefronts and services. When you add up all the e-books, apps, music, games, and videos, there's no question that Amazon has more of its own content offerings to dive into. Its cloud technology infrastructure also happens to be one of the most robust systems in the industry, and its tablet reaps the rewards in terms of improved Web-browsing performance, media lockers like Cloud Player, and Cloud Drive file backup.

The other big advantage--or, some would say, caveat--to the Kindle Fire is Amazon Prime. In addition to free two-day shipping for most of Amazon's physical product offerings, Prime offers members access to a growing library of Netflix-style on-demand streaming movies and TV shows (a subset of Amazon's full catalog), plus the option to borrow some e-books for free. Of course, all of that "free" stuff comes at a price: $79 per year. Many find it to be the retail deal of a lifetime, but--like Xbox Live on Microsoft's game console--it does mean you need to factor in a yearly premium to fully unlock the value of Amazon's tablet. … Read more

If you've preordered the Amazon Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble hopes you're now having second thoughts.

That's the message of the just-announced $249 Nook Tablet, the successor to 2010's Nook Color (which remains on the market for $199). The new 7-inch color tablet equals many of the basic specs of the Kindle Fire, but justifies its $50 price premium over Amazon.com's model by offering several notable upgrades.

The Nook Tablet will offer more than twice the storage and twice the RAM of the Fire; it's got an SD expansion slot for even more storage capacity (which the Fire lacks), up to 32GB; and Barnes & Noble is already touting Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Pandora apps which will come included on the device from the start (Amazon's list of third-party Fire apps remains undisclosed). Those features are in addition to the existing assortment of apps and features already available on the Nook Color (and on deck for the Kindle Fire)--e-mail and a Flash-enabled Web browser, in addition to a fully stocked e-book store and magazine and newspaper newsstand.

In short, the Nook Tablet immediately becomes the first real challenger to the Kindle Fire in the emerging bargain tablet arena. Here's why.… Read more

It may have the Fire, but now Amazon's the one feeling Barnes & Noble's heat.

On September 28, Amazon sent shockwaves through the tablet and e-reader space by announcing the $199 Kindle Fire and two new low-priced e-ink readers, the $79 Kindle and $99 Kindle Touch. At the time, a lot of people wondered if Barnes & Noble, mum after Amazon's announcement, would be able strike back with both a compelling product and pricing that could blunt Amazon's blitz.

The answer appears to be yes, as Barnes & Noble today unveiled the $249 Nook Tablet, a … Read more