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Nook HD pre-order fights Kindle Fire, Nook GlowLight out now

Barnes and Noble is wading into the UK tablet battle, with orders for its £159 tablet now being taken.

Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
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Luke Westaway
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US bookseller Barnes and Noble is gearing up in its battle for UK tablet domination, as pre-orders for the £159 Nook HD tablet open today.

The high-resolution tablet can be purchased today online, with the website's checkout revealing that the tablet is expected to be released on 22 November. £159 gets you the 8GB model, while the larger 16GB option costs £189.

Those who enjoy paying for things they can't own for a month yet will also want to take a look at the 9-inch Nook HD+, which can also be pre-ordered from today, starting at £229.

Watch this: CNET News Nook HD tablets

While the Nook HD has a 720p display, this larger option boasts a whopping 1080p panel, which could make it a good choice for movie buffs. Like the Kindle Fire HD, these tablets are aimed at keeping things simple, letting you purchase books, movies and TV shows from Barnes and Noble's virtual bazaar. Don't expect any Android-esque tinkering for these tablets.

For industry spectators, the Nook HD is the one to keep an eye on. It bears an identical price to rival tablets like the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire HD, but will also be vying with the iPad mini for customer's cash.

I'd wager that -- in the UK at least -- Barnes and Noble is the least recognisable brand out of the four. I think it'll have its work cut out if it wants to make an impact in our green and pleasant land.

GlowLight out today

Finally the horribly named Nook Simple Touch GlowLight is on sale today -- this is an E Ink reader with a glowing display, similar to that of the Kindle Paperwhite.

It's the same price as Amazon's high-scoring option, but with orders for the Paperwhite now slipping to the week of 17 December, those desperate to get a glowing ebook reader in time for Christmas may want to consider Barnes and Noble's gadget.

Will you be buying a tiny tablet? Which ebook reader tickles your literary fancy? Tell me in the comments or on our Facebook wall.