Barnes & Noble unveiled their newest Nook iteration: The Nook Tablet. This is the book chain’s answer to Amazon’s Kindle Fire. I speculated in an earlier post how B&N will respond to Amazon’s tablet computer. I only said if they don’t already have something in the pipeline, it could be a bad holiday season for the world’s largest bookseller.

Luckily for them, that’s not the case.

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Here are some of the features the new tablet/eReader sports:

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A few days ago I posted my prediction about where eReader technology is going. I said that bendable ebook screens will be common in the next decade. It’s not that bold of a prediction given that the technology already exists, it just needs to be perfected.

The next day, Fast Company posted an article that’s also about bendable eReaders. However, they approach it by asking the question: Will bendable technology be a fad, or will it have sticking power?

The article starts off by saying:

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I’m going to make a bold prediction: In the next decade we’re going to see eReaders on the market that are as flexible as paper. Forget those clunky Kindles and Nooks, you’ll read your ebooks on a paper-like screen that you can fold up and put in your pocket.

Actually, my prediction might not be all that bold after all. According to Gizmodo, this technology is already in the making:

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A few years ago I gave the writing software Scrivener a try. Back then I thought it was impressive but didn’t think it was for me. I said I preferred the simplicity of a bare bones word processor.

I gave Scrivener another shot several months ago and discovered this time I really liked it. Since then I’ve been working on a few writing projects using the software. The ability to organize everything from notes, drafts, research and the final product, all in one program is very convenient.

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Blackberry maker Research In Motion has been under fire the last few days for the worldwide service outage, that appeared to be resolved early this morning. While it did affect me, I’m not a super-user, so I was able to get through the outage unscathed.

Almost a year ago I traded in my 1st generation iPhone for a Blackberry Pearl. My reasons for leaving the iPhone boiled down to a lot of features I didn’t use and buying a lot of apps that also went unused. To a lesser extent, I also wanted to experiment with something new.

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There’s a new children’s tablet computer on the market. This one is from Vtech, called the InnoTab. In early September I wrote about the LeapPad, a similar tablet with similar features.

The Innotab has a small-ish 5″ touch screen and runs of four AA batteries. It’s also built with a rugged plastic case that can withstand all the temper tantrums a kid can throw.

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Amazon’s new Kindle Fire seems to be just one more tablet in a world filled with tablet computers. Most aspire to compete with Apple’s iPad, but we’ve already seen a few fall off the market due to sluggish sales.

The Kindle Fire though, has a few interesting things that sets it apart from all the others, even the iPad. Some are obvious, some are more hidden.

I recently read this article from Techcrunch that talks about what sets the Kindle Fire apart:

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Apple is dominating the headlines today with the introduction of the new iPhone 4S.  It’s their latest addition to the popular iPhone family of smart phones. As usual, the newest gadget from Apple comes packed with new features.

Here are a few of the highlights:

• Supports GDM and CDMA networks (making it a true world phone).
• Improved battery life: 8 hours of 3G talk time, 14 hours of 2G talk time and 6 hours of 3G web browsing.
• 7x faster graphics
• Much improved camera
• Support for “Siri” a smart voice assistant that can take commands and queries.

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There’s not much to add here. I should note, however, that I bought my Kindle at my local Target. It will be interesting to see how the Kindle and Nook compete head-to-head at Target.

Here is the press release from the B&N website:

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Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, unveiled two cool new products and lowered the price of their flagship Kindle to $79 (damn, I bought mine at the beginning of June for $139).

Amazon also unveiled the Kindle Touch (both in 3G and WiFi-only) and the Kindle Fire, the long awaited Amazon tablet. I’m guessing they are changing the eReader and tablet game, not in terms of technology, but price.

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