Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook Tablet shipped a day earlier than scheduled after rival Amazon.com Inc. began shipping its similar Kindle Fire on Monday, also a day ahead of schedule.
The Nook, which weighs less than a pound, comes with preloaded software from Hulu and Netflix Inc. that allows users watch movies and TV shows, the Associated Press reports. It has 16 gigabytes of built-in memory and an SD slot to add more.
Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said the company offers free customer service at over 700 of its locations, which Amazon cannot do as an online retailer, according to the Associated Press.
The Nook Tablet, which runs on Google Inc.'s Android system for mobile devices, is being sold in Barnes & Noble stores and online. It can also be found at multiple other retailers, including Best Buy, Target, Fry's and Staples, the Associated Press reports.
Barnes & Noble, which has been facing tough competition from discounters and online book retailers, is struggling to turn a profit, according to the Associated Press.
But in its most recent quarter, the company reported a narrower loss than a year earlier as its revenue climbed 2 percent to $1.42, the Associated Press reports.
