US books retailer Barnes & Noble has launched an all-out assault on Amazon's dominance of the UK e-reader market.
The company will launch a slate of aggressively priced new devices ahead of the Christmas shopping season, including a pair of all-new tablets and E-ink readers.
The company will also launch its book and video stores in the UK.
The Nook tablets and readers will include the all-new Nook HD and Nook HD+, which feature high-resolution screens and strong industrial design for a relatively very low price, as well as a pair of e-ink readers.
The 'Nook' brand is a substantial digital competitor to Amazon in the US, where Barnes & Noble operate more than 700 bricks-and-mortar stores.
Now the company aims to make a big impression on the UK market, and will offer its products in more than 1,600 high-profile shops, including John Lewis, Curry's, Dixons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
Nook 2012 Line-Up
Jamie Iannone, president of Barnes & Noble digital, told the Huffington Post UK that the company's push into the market was self-consciously aggressive.
"We think it's really important to launch here," he told the Huffington Post UK. "I run the Nook business, and I'm here. I am really invested in making this a very successful launch for us because you can't relaunch a bad product."
He added that Barnes & Noble was aware that its brand is not the relative powerhouse it is in the States:
"We understand we're coming from a very low brand recognition," he said. "And we've got to win the consideration of the UK customer which - we haven't sold here before, and Nook is a new brand. We get that it will take time.
"But publishers and retailers also want a strong competitor here especially in that E-ink reading space, so I think they're incentivised to make us successful too."
Nook Simple Touch And Glowlight: Nook E-Ink Readers
Starting at £79, the Nook Simple Touch is Barnes & Noble's basic touchscreen E-ink reader, which comes with 2GB of storage, a compact and ergonomic design and access to the Nook's 2.5 million-strong bookstore.
Meanwhile the Simple Touch with Glowlight will cost £109, and feature an adjustable, embedded light which enables reading at night without the 'bleed' seen on mobile phone and tablet screens.
Both e-readers were previously available in the US, where they won strong praise from reviewers (including at the Huffington Post US).
By comparison, Amazon's most basic E-reader is slightly cheaper at £69, but their recently-announced flagship 'Paperwhite' model with a light is not currently available in the UK.
Barnes & Noble will also be releasing Nook apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android tablets, Mac and PC computers and browsers, so that new users can read their books across a range of devices.
Nook HD and Nook HD+: Low-Cost Tablets For Reading And Movies
Meanwhile the seven-inch Nook HD and the nine-inch Nook HD+ tablets will be available in the UK from late November, with pre-orders starting next month.
The tablets are priced to aggressively undercut both Apple's market-leading iPad as well as the Amazon Kindle HD tablets announced earlier in September.
The seven-inch Nook HD will start at just £159 for the 8GB model and £189 for the 16GB, while the nine-inch will be offered for £229 (16GB) and £269 (32GB).
That compares to £159 for Amazon's seven-inch Kindle Fire HD, which offers more on-board storage (16GB) but with a lower resolution screen (1440 x 900 versus 1280 x 800), no expandable storage and no included power adapter.
The tablets are priced similarly to Kobo's own Arc tablet, announced earlier this month.
Apple's iPad, which has a much larger screen than both the Nook HD and the Nook HD+ , and a larger selection of apps, starts at £399 for a £16GB version - and £329 for the iPad 2.