Barnes & Noble is trying to shake up the tablet world with their latest offering: A $199 8GB Nook Tablet. It seems that the world’s largest bookseller is trying to stay one step ahead of Amazon. Or, at the very least, B&N just wants to keep up.

To sweeten the pot even more, they reduced the price of their Nook Color to $169, down from $199. I’m guessing we’ll see further price drops, and even new products, hit the market between now and Christmas.

Here’s the press release Barnes & Noble published on their website:

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The tablet computer market is expanding, and I’m always on the lookout for new tablets (that aren’t iPads). A lot of tablets look promising. Others, like the Acer Iconia A200 falls very short.

It’s an Android-based tablet running the Honeycomb OS and is upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich. Nothing special there. It lacks basic features, like a rear-facing camera (it does have a front-facing camera so you can take glamour shots of yourself). This Acer will set you back $330 for an 8GB unit.

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If you’re a parent with a toddler or older, you know that a tablet can be a lifesaver when it comes to keeping your kid occupied. There’s nothing easier than sitting your kid on the couch, handing them your Kindle Fire and letting them play with it for several hours while you take a much-deserved nap. That’s just good parenting.

However, a tablet like the Kindle Fire is tied to your Amazon account, which is also tied to your credit card. It’s important to child-proof your Kindle Fire before handing it over to your kid’s grubby little hands. This means preventing him/her from watching your NC-17 movies and keeping your kid away from the dark side of the internet.

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When I’m right, I’m right. In a previous post Why You Shouldn’t Get Too Excited About Apple’s iBooks 2 Textbooks, I argued that e-textbooks won’t catch on anytime soon because not everyone has an iPad, and the high price will be prohibitive for many students to buy one.

This is especially true for poorer school districts. Even if Apple has a iPad lending program, or discounts for school, you’re still trusting high school students with a very expensive device.

In college, you can’t teach a class with some students using an e-textbook and other students using a print textbook. It just won’t work. You can, however, give every student an iPad by adding the cost to an already high tuition bill. Overall though, I don’t think e-textbooks will catch on soon. There are too many barriers to overcome first.

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This past holiday season saw the sales of eReaders and tablets “soar,” according to the New York Times. I remember many Christmases where big-screen televisions were the big seller, and even talking stuffed animals for kids sent parents into a buying frenzy (who can forget the loveable Teddy Ruxpin?). Times have changed.

But is the popularity of these devices really that surprising? I say no. Ebooks have entered into mainstream culture and ebook sales increase by the month. Further, there are more choices in tablet computers that can act as an ebook reader and give the some of the same functionality as a laptop.

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NOTE: Check out my follow-up to this post: E-Textbooks In iBooks 2 Won’t Catch On Anytime Soon

Now that Apple has released iBooks 2, which is enhanced for e-textbooks, everyone is excited about how this new feature will revolutionize learning. My advice: Don’t get too excited, at least, not yet.

Yes, the new iBooks 2 is very impressive. I’ll give it that. But there’s a huge difference between being “impressive” and being “practical” in the real world.

How dare I question Apple’s innovation! Just hear me out. I’m predicting e-textbooks aren’t going to catch on anytime soon. Here’s why.

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Apple introduced iBooks 2 for iPad today that adds a new e-textbAfter ook feature that will allow students to interact with the material, not just read it.

These electronic textbooks are enhanced for graphics, videos, interactive features, students notes, highlights and anything else you can think of to make a boring subject like chemistry tolerable.

I found a cool video on engadget that demonstrates all the features mentioned above. Take a look for yourself:

Yes, we all know the iPad is still the king of all tablet computers. And like I said in this earlier post about Russian eReaders, it’s easy to forget there are other tablets out there.

I’ve become interested in what other tablets are on the market. Don’t worry, I’m not giving up my iPad anytime soon (I’m saving my pennies for the iPad 3). But it’s fun to see how the technology has evolved over the last few years. While the iPad is king, it’s being surrounded by more and more tablets.

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Barnes & Noble is sweetening the pot on their Nook Tablet by offering it for $99…with strings attached, of course. To get that juicy price you need purchase a 1-year subscription to the New York Times Nook Edition.

Or, if you don’t want the tablet, you can get a Nook Simple Touch for free. A subscription to the New York Times will set you back $19.99/month for one year.

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Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there are other tablet computers out there other than the iPad, Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet. The Kindle and Nook aside, the iPad remains the large fish in an expanding pond.

One of the newer tablets on the market is the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. Asus is known for making cheap netbooks for those who need a laptop, without all the frills and gimmicks of a Macbook or PC.

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