14 DAY TRIAL // Barnes & Noble probably hoped it would weather the year without having to cut the prices of its gadgets again, but the newest 7-inch Android-loaded tablet has given it no other recourse.
Should one drop by the Barnes & Noble web store, they will notice that the standard prices of the slates are crossed out.
Next to them are the new prices, which aim to compensate for the fact that the Nooks aren't all that strong by today's standards. The Nexus 7 made that clear.
The Nook Tablet with 8 GB of storage space costs $179 instead of $199. That's 145 Euro and 161 Euro, respectively, according to exchange rates.
The 16 GB Tablet experienced an even greater drop. Where once it sold for $249, or 202.55 Euro, now it ships for just $199 / 161 Euro.
The third and final device that qualifies as a tablet, even though it is advertised as an e-reader, is none other than the Nook Color.
Priced at $169 up until recently, it now sells for $149. That's a drop from 137 Euro to 121 Euro, give or take.
It was back in February (2012) that Barnes & Noble released cheaper iterations of these devices, and we do think there isn't much room for further cuts.
Thus, we suspect B&N is trying its best to come up with some truly new designs. The Nook Color and Nook Tablets are decent, all things considered, but they are completely overshadowed by current-generation 7-inch tablets.
What's more, with Windows RT coming up, the number of people interested in B&N's platform, in spite of the e-book library and apps, will decrease.
It doesn't help that the bookstore chain went to great lengths to make sure its slates, or at least the Nook Color, were closed devices (they can't download or run much else besides B&N-owned content).