Firstly we will look at design, both tablets feature a 7-inch display, therefore there are many similarities, however it is the fine details which separate a good device from a great one, so let’s take a closer look. The Nook Tablet measures in at 8.1 x 5.0 x 0.48 inches and will apparently weigh just 14.1 ounces, this makes it 0.5 ounces lighter than the Kindle Fire, however Amazon’s tablet is smaller in every dimension (7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 inches).

There is not much to separate the two tablets if you compare the displays against one another, both feature a 7-inch diagonal, a 1024 x 600 resolution, 169 PPI and 16 million colors, Barnes & Noble’s IPS2 display utilizes VividView technology to keep the display clear in bright conditions, whilst the Kindle Fire’s IPS display has had an anti-reflective treatment applied. Sadly we have not seen the devices alongside eachother, therefore we can’t really tell which display looks better, but things look close.

In terms of grunt there is not a lot a great deal of difference. The Kindle Fire runs Android and features a Texas Instruments OMAP 4 dual-core processor along with 512MB of RAM. The Nook Tablet also runs a 1GHz TI OMAP4 dual-core processor, but it has 1GB of RAM. In terms of storage the Kindle Fire boasts 8GB internal (6GB available yo the user) and free cloud storage, it would be fair to say that the Nook Tablet’s 16GB of storage and microSD memory card slot (which supports cards of up to 32GB) has the edge, especially as they also throw in free Nook cloud storage.

Neither of these tablets feature 3G connectivity, however they both offer WiFi b/g/n. Once again you could argue that Barnes & Noble has the edge in this regard as they throw in free Wi-Fi in all Barnes & Noble stores, but this is not important to everyone.

Lots of people pay a lot of attention to battery life, once again the Nook Tablet outdoes the Kindle Fire, but not by a great deal. From the mains the Kindle Fire will fully charge in approximately 4 hours, with the wireless switched off it will then deliver either 8 hours of continuous reading, or 7.5 hours of video playback. The Barnes & Noble offering is said to fully charge in roughly 3 hours and with the WiFi off you can expect 11.5 hours of reading or 9 hours of video playback – that’s pretty impressive.

From a consumer point of view these are the things which are most important when comparing these devices side-by-side, however if you want to take a deeper look into technical specifications you can see full Nook Tablet specs here and full Kindle Fire tech specs here.

In terms of pricing the Kindle Fire costs $199, whilst the Nook Tablet costs $249 -a ll in all there isn’t a lot in it, but it has to be said that technically the Nook Tablet should be slightly better, that said it is very slight and perhaps not enough to justify spending an extra $50 for.

Which tablet will you opt for?

If you’ve already purchased or you’re thinking about buying the Nook Color device, you might want to know which apps are the best to download. Dusan Belic from intomobile.com has recently taken a look at some of the applications that are available for Barnes & Noble’s popular eReader, and comprised a list of what he believes are the top seven.

First on the list is the ezPDF Reader app. Those of you that already own a Nook Color may have noticed that the device’s built-in PDF reader isn’t that great. If you really want to use your Nook for reading PDF files, then it might be worth downloading ezPDF Reader. The app – which costs just $1.99 – comes with bookmarks, hyperlinks and text select.

The Nook Color may come with the ability to view Microsoft Office documents, but sometimes you might want to do more such as make changes. This is where the Quickoffice Pro app comes in handy, as it allows users to create, view and edit Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets. Quickoffice Pro is yours for $14.99.

Another app that’s definitely worth downloading is the free Evernote application. The Evernote app enables users to take notes, create to-do lists and even record voice reminders. Meanwhile, the Unit Converter app is a quick and easy way to work out conversions such as meters to inches, bits to bytes and Celsius to Fahrenheit.

If on the other hand you like to keep up to date with all the latest stories across the various blogs that you follow, then the Pulse News app (free to download) might be for you. The popular social media news reader not only enables users to follow such stories, it also allows them to share stories with their friends or followers on Facebook and Twitter.

Goodreads is the ideal app for those of you that enjoy reading a lot. The app enables users to share what they are reading with their friends, as well as get recommendations from them. It will even allow you to create a to-read list. The final app on the list is Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List, which provides users with access to more than 30,000 recipes.

Do you own the Nook Color? If you do, have you downloaded any of the aforementioned apps?

However, that doesn’t appear to be the case, as Rue Liu at slashgear.com has reported that the new Barnes & Noble Nook eReader – which was touted to be smaller, lighter and have at least double the amount of battery life compared to Amazon’s Kindle – has begun shipping earlier than expected.

In fact, Barnes & Noble began shipping the device to customers yesterday (May 31st). The new Nook eReader will be in stock in stores staring from this weekend, and will be priced up at $139. New online orders will also be shipped immediately, arriving just in time for Father’s Day!!

For those of you that need reminding, the new Barnes & Noble eReader comes with a 6-inch full touch screen with the most advanced e-ink Pearl display, a soft-touch rubber surface to the rear of the device, Android 2.1, Wi-Fi radio, the FastPage Zoom Forward feature and 2GB of storage.

Did you pre-order the new Barnes & Noble Nook eReader?

As noted by Terrence O’Brien over at engadget.com, the new Nook e-reader features the exact same zForce infrared touch layer as the aforementioned Kobo Touch Edition. The all-new Nook provides up to two months life on a single charge, and features a soft-touch rubber surface on the rear.

It also comes with a redesigned home screen that includes suggested titles and your current reading list, as well as a few new features including FastPage Zoom Forward, which enables users to jump to any page in a title. It will also display the amount of pages you have left to go.

Inside the new Nook device is Android 2.1, a Wi-Fi radio and 2GB of storage, which can be expanded with the use of a microSD slot. Users will also have the ability to lend books, share quotes and update their status on social networks by using the Nook Friends feature, which debuted on the Nook Color last year.

The new 6-inch, ultra-light Nook e-reader is available to pre-order both online and in stores now, with the device hopefully shipping to customers on June 10th. You can also pick up the new e-reader for $139, at Walmart, Books-A-Million, Best Buy and Staples.

Are you looking to buy a new e-reader?