Nook Video Aims To Jab Netflix And Amazon All At Once

If you were looking for another reason to pick up a new Nook tablet – revealed earlier today – you'll find it in Barnes & Noble's announcement of Nook Video, a streaming service they're set to release to fight Netflix and Amazon's efforts in the video universe. While Amazon does indeed have a tablet competitor for the Nook line in their own Kindle Fire HD (and the rest), they don't have the same key-word that Barnes & Noble is coming up with: UltraViolet – and the same, basically, goes for Netflix. With HBO, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros, and Starz already signing up for the Nook Video team, there very well could be some clout to the book company's claims.

What we've got here, according to Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating speaking with Business Week, is "a complete library from all the leading studios." With the introduction to this initiative showing off next to no final details as far as pricing goes, investors have been left in the dark. Amazon Prime Instant Videos makes the Kindle Fire a beast to be reckoned with, and every single Android tablet and the Apple iPad are able to work with Netflix – that's a monster of a market to deal with.

The Nook Video service will be launching this Fall along with the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+. Take a peek at our hands-on with that duo of next-generation content-filled tablets right this minute. Then hear this: Nook Video will also be launching in the UK by the winter holidays. This means a global launch may not be that far behind. What we've got on our hands here is a real effort by the book-smiths to enter the video content market with the tablet, which came first.

In this way, Barnes & Noble are aiming to becomes another content and hardware company in an already multi-armed market that includes the Kindle Fire and the iPad as well as Google's own Google Play media market. Will Barnes & Noble be able to keep up the way they've done with the ebook industry? We shall see!