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Tablet Computer Comparison: Nook Vs. Fire, Content Lockdown

Both the Nook Tablet from Barnes and Noble and the Kindle Fire from Amazon have hit the stores and the battle of the cheapest tablet PCs have started in earnest. there were lots of reports, reviews, and tablet P.C comparison articles floating around the web with regard to the Nook and Fire, and a few issues & things have surfaced that may sway potential purchasers from one table to the other “or vice versa.

Choice vs. Vending Machine

William Lynch, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER of Barnes and Noble, has referred to Amazon’s Kindle Fire as a “vending machine” to the web ecommerce giant’s services. This “Choice versus. Locked into Amazon’s ecology” theme was the same tune Claudia Romanini, director of developer relations at B&N, was singing in an interview with Fast Company. According to Romanini, the Nook Tablet already has Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora installed into the machine giving their users options as to where they can get their material. The implication is that Amazon does not offer the same choice.

Most tablet Personal computer comparison reports and researchers have voiced some confusion over this marketing strategy. The fact is, the Kindle Fire has these apps available too “just not preloaded into the gadget.

Content Lockdown

Speaking of openness, reports have surfaced that both companies have taken some measures to be sure that their potential clients purchase content from the respective app stores. Barnes and Noble utilised the larger storage and expandable memory slot as a key selling point, though been recently reported that only 12GB of the Nook Tablet’s 16GB built-in memory can actually be used for user content. And out of that 12GB, only 1GB can be employed for content acquired from sources apart from B&N. If you opt to make use of the external memory for storing your content, you may run into issues also , since B&N reputedly used a locked bootloader to hopefully prevent hacking.

Amazon, on the other hand, has a limited 8GB built in memory with no memory slots. This could have been done to steer its users into streaming content from the store. Also, the Kindle Fire has a ready loaded Kindle app for reading ebooks, and apparently, other apps and ebookstore are available from the Amazon Appstore, but you will not be seeing them in the Kindle Fire (absolutely). Competitor ebookstores are visible if you view the appstore from your Personal computer, but not if you are scanning from your Kindle Fire.

Tablet PERSONAL COMPUTER comparison wars are still on, and it looks that though both B&N and Amazon have made it clear that their tablet Computers are not so open for third party content, they’re still major tablet contenders for this holiday season. Who’ll emerge the winner? Will price overcome over specs? We’ll see in the subsequent couple of months.

Desire more information about the Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire wars? Check out the link for more tablet PC comparison articles and reports.

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