Barnes & Noble leaves the tablet biz: CNET Update

Barnes and Noble is getting out of the tablet biz. I'm Jeff Bakalar filling in for Bridget Carey and this is your CNET Update. Barnes and Noble will stop production of the Nook tablet and sell off the remaining inventory according to a statement released today. The company blames the ongoing losses in the manufacturing of the tablet, but also says, "Going forward, the company intends to continue to design eReading devices and reading platforms while creating a partnership model for manufacturing in the competitive color tablet market." Ouya, the open source android-based platform for gaming has already sold out of its initial stock from Amazon and GameStop. Ouya had a massively popular kick-starter campaign, thanks to its convincing marketing video that promised the world of independent gaming at an affordable price of $99. If you're still in the market for one, you can probably find some at Brick and Mortar stores, like Best Buy or Target, and if you're still not sure about picking one up, some reviews have already hit online and the initial consensus is not very positive. We'll have a full CNET review very soon. Sony is getting more competitive with its music service. New features to the service include offline listening and improving the sound quality of the streaming and downloaded music. It's said the new iOS app will perform closer to the quality of some of the other players out there like Spotify and Rdio. A preview of the latest version of Windows 8, that's 8.1 if you're counting at home, shows off new features that include the return of the start button and its functionality. Users will now be able to restart and shut down straight from the start button. There's also some new aesthetic tweaks buried inside the update. For instance, my computer will now be called this PC and the tile screen will offer more customization including the ability to change the size of certain icons. And finally, a Taiwanese coffee chain is now offering what they're calling a Latte Printer, which works like a kiosk that sprinkles any image on top of your beverage of choice. So you can basically drink your own face. Look at this guy. He's got his face in his coffee. That's crazy. The machine can even write text, so if you find yourself in Taiwan anytime soon, make sure you stop by any Let's Café store for the chance to try it out yourself. That's your tech news update for today. You can find more details on these stories at CNET.com/update and make sure you follow along on Twitter. From our studios here in New York City, I'm Jeff Bakalar.