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Barnes & Noble reportedly readying 8GB Nook Tablet

The tablet would have half the memory of the current model, and could be hitting Wal-Mart stores this Wednesday.

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Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
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The current Nook Tablet. Sarah Tew/CNET

Barnes & Noble is prepping a new version of its Nook Tablet to better compete against Amazon's Kindle Fire.

The book retailer will launch an 8-gigabyte version of its tablet through Wal-Mart on Wednesday, according to The Verge.

The Nook Tablet made some noise after its launch as part of a new wave of affordable tablets better suited to competing with the higher end iPad from Apple. But while the Kindle Fire has sold well and drawn much of the attention of the consumer and media, the Nook Tablet hasn't seen the same level of adoption.

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The Nook Tablet retails for $249, but offers 16GB of memory, or twice as much as the Kindle Fire. By cutting its memory in half, Barnes & Noble could possibly offer a more price-competitive product.

The Nook Tablet could already be found at a discount. Under a limited promotion, the tablet was selling for $199 through an eBay-hosted offer.

The new version looks to be identical to the existing model. It's unclear whether its processor speed, expansion slot, or the amount of RAM would remain the same.

A representative for Barnes & Noble wasn't immediately available to comment to CNET.