Feeling the heat from Amazon's new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD models, Barnes & Noble responded today by announcing a pair of next generation tablets of its own, the Nook HD and Nook HD+. The Nook HD is a 7-inch slate that will cost $199 for the 8GB model and $229 for the 16GB model, while the Nook HD+ sports a 9-inch display and starts at $269 for 16GB or $299 for 32GB.

One of the things we look forward to most when there's a new product launch is the inevitable teardown. Our friends at iFixIt are always on the ball, and Amazon's Kindle Fire HD launch is no exception. The product repair site put the Kindle Fire HD (7-inch version) on the operating tablet and tore it open, leaving no part concealed, and discovered that it's not all that difficult to service at home.

We've known for some time that Amazon was going to announce a new family of Kindle devices, and company CEO Jeff Bezos didn't disappoint when he took to the stage today to introduce this year's models. On the less exciting side of the spectrum, this year's vanilla Kindle eReader is slimmer, lighter, and cheaper than last year's entry-level model, selling for $69 instead of $79. As you move up the chain of devices, however, things get exponentially more interesting.

It's incredibly tough to keep a product launch under wraps with the Internet serving as the ultimate spoiler. Samsung can attest to this after seeing its Galaxy Note II plans leaked to the Web ahead of its offical launch. Be that as it may, all a company can do is forge ahead with business as usual, as Samsung did by officially unveiling its second generation Galaxy Note device. There is one surprise, however -- Samsung's skipping a U.S. launch until later this year.