The holiday e-reader wars are off to a nasty start.
During the unveiling of Barnes & Noble’s new Nook Tablet yesterday, CEO William Lynch took potshots at Amazon’s new Kindle Fire, deriding it as “a vending machine for Amazon services.”
Despite the fact that B&N’s new device is priced at $249 -- $50 more than the Kindle Fire that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos touted last month -- Lynch said the Nook Tablet’s superior tech specs make it worth it.
“At $249, it gives Barnes & Noble customers or potential customers enough to think hard about which device they want,” Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom said of the Nook Tablet.
AP
Nook Tablet
With both devices slated to hit the market next week, B&N and Amazon are locked in a bitter fight with each other as well as Apple, whose iPad has outsold their e-readers even though the cheapest iPad model costs more than twice as much.
Portraying the Kindle Fire as a rigid media platform that forces users to buy Amazon e-books, music and movies, Lynch said the Nook tablet will allow more flexibility for online shoppers.
“We’re going to partner with the world’s most popular music services,” Lynch said, without giving details. “We’re going to let the consumers choose.”
While some critics said the Nook looks just as likely to guide shoppers toward purchases on B&N’s site, the book retailer additionally touted superior tech specs for the Nook Tablet, saying it was powered by a full gigabyte of memory compared with half a gig for the Kindle Fire.
The Nook Tablet also has 16GB of storage and is capable of being upgraded to 32GB with a memory slot. By comparison, the Kindle Fire has just 8 GB of storage with no option to upgrade.
Lynch also touted free customer service for the Nook at B&N’s 700 stores. If Kindle Fire buyers need service, Lynch asked, “where would you go, Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle?”
jcovert@nypost.com
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