Barnes and Noble releases new Nook tablets

Barnes and Noble announced Wednesday that it has two new Nook Tablets, specifically designed for better video viewing. The announcement comes just a day after the bookseller unveiled its plans for a video service of its own.

The new tablets are called the Nook Tablet HD and Nook Tablet HD+, 7- and 9-inch devices that show Barnes and Noble is jumping into the tablet market with both feet.

Up to this point, Barnes and Noble’s main competitor has been Amazon’s smaller Kindle Fire tablet — a rivalry that became much more interesting with the video announcement Tuesday. But with a “full” 9-inch tablet priced below $300, the retailer takes on a whole new crowd of competitors including Google and Apple.

Barnes and Noble’s decision to build out its tablet roster is an unusual one. While it fits with the trend of companies choosing to package their content with proprietary hardware, Barnes and Noble’s ecosystem doesn’t come close to matching the content breadth of Apple, Google or Amazon.