Barnes & Noble unveils iPad alternative

Barnes & Noble chief executive William Lynch describes Apple's iPad as a great product, even a "juggernaut", but he has criticisms - mainly that it is expensive and weighs too much.

Once Lynch could be certain that Barnes & Noble could build a tablet with similar dimensions to the best-selling iPad that was also cheaper and lighter, he went ahead with the project after killing it twice.

The result is the 9-inch Nook HD+ that goes on sale today for US$269. The least expensive iPad sells for US$499 and weighs 27 per cent more.

Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have increased access to content beyond digital books and list specifications such as screen resolution and processing speed as selling points to expand their customer base beyond readers.

Nook Video will allow users to buy movies and television shows from providers such as HBO and Walt Disney Studios and, like other Nook content, the video can then be stored via cloud computing and accessed on multiple devices.

"Side by side with the new Kindle Fires, they are competitive," Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst for Forrester Research, said. "But getting consumers to choose the Nook over an iPad will be much more difficult because Apple customers care less about price."