Nook Tablet hands on: iPad competitor or Kindle Fire catch up?

Phil from Android Central is live at the Nook event in New York City and he got his geeky hands on a Nook Tablet already. While the Kindle Fire is getting all the attention -- and iPad 2 competitive chatter -- Nook has been around for a while and as Phil points out, like Apple but unlike Amazon, Barnes and Noble has a retail presence to help push their gear.

All that being said, Nook Tablet, like Kindle Fire, is aimed differently than iPad, focusing on a cheaper price and easy access to content (at least for people who live in the US). It's running a heavily skinned, highly customize version of Android Gingerbread (no Honeycomb for you!), and it's not going to be running Real Racing 2 HD over AirPlay Mirroring any time soon.

Whether it catches on, or catches up to anything approaching iPad 2's market, much less profit, share is anyone's guess at this point.

Source: Android Central

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.