BN Intros 8GB Nook Tablet

By Doug Olenick -- TWICE, 2/21/2012

New York - Barnes & Noble rolled out another Nook Tablet today.

The latest Nook, priced at $199, features 8GB of storage. The original version with 16GB is selling for $249.

The two tablets otherwise share the same specifications. Each is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, has 512MB of RAM, 11.5 hours of battery life and a 7-inch display.

Barnes & Noble also released the bookseller's third-quarter financial results.

The company's Nook business, which includes digital content, hardware and related accessories, increased 38 percent during the quarter, ended Jan. 28, to $542 million. Nook unit sales, which include the Simple Touch, Color and Tablet, were up 64 percent during the quarter. Content sales were up 85 percent. Content includes digital books, digital newsstand and apps sales.

Overall, the company posted a net income of $52 million on sales of $2.4 billion for the quarter. This is down from the $60.5 million in net income generated during the same period in 2011. Barnes & Noble said store sales and BN.com sales increased, but sales in its college bookstore declined.