或许是不愿意在年末看到亚马逊（Amazon）凭借Kindle Fire平板电脑独领风骚，美国连锁书商巴诺（Barnes & Noble）也不甘寂寞地推出了Nook平板，同时也是它去年推出的Nook Color平板的升级版。

    Nook平板起价为249美元，将从11月16日起出货。它保留了老款Nook Color的外观，但是内部却焕然一新，搭载了主频1GHz的双核处理器，1GB的RAM和16GB存储空间（它的RAM和存储空间都是亚马逊Kindle Fire的两倍）。此外它还支持流媒体应用Netflix Instant和Hulu Plus。同时巴诺现有的几款电子书阅读器也开始打折处理：Nook Color降价到199美元；另一款阅读器Nook Simple Touch仅卖99美元，它的显示屏经过升级后，翻页速度快了25%，打字速度更快了，对比度也得到了提高。

    如果仔细观察，会发现Nook平板的外观几乎和Nook Color一模一样，只是灰色边框的颜色变浅了。第一代Nook Color出自设计大师伊凡•贝哈尔的手笔，喜欢Nook Color干净设计的人也一定会喜欢新款的Nook平板。据说它比Nook Color轻了10%，不过笔者并没怎么注意到。这款平板电脑无论如何也算不上笨重。不过像Nook Color一样，Nook拿在手里很有份量，感觉很结实，也就是说如果把玩久了，可能得两只手换着来，或者把它放到膝盖上。

    Not content to let Amazon hog the spotlight this holiday with the Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble unveiled the Nook Tablet, a hardware update to the Nook Color, launched last year.

    Priced at $249 and shipping November 16, the Nook Tablet keeps the Nook Color's look but swaps the internals with a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of built-in storage. (For comparison's sake, that's twice the RAM and storage of the Kindle Fire.) Also onboard: support for Netflix Instant and Hulu Plus. Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble's (BKS) existing e-reading devices received a price cut: the Nook Color dropped to $199, while the Nook Simple Touch will go for $99 with an updated display sporting 25% faster page turns, crisper text and improved contrast.

    Up close, the Nook Tablet looks almost identical to the Nook Color, save for a lighter gray case. In other words, if you liked Yves Behar's clean industrial design the first time around, you'll like the Nook Tablet. It's also 10% lighter, though I didn't really notice. The Tablet isn't heavy by any stretch. But also like its predecessor, there's a bit of heft and sturdiness to the device that means you'll eventually find yourself switching hands or propping it on your lap.