While the iPad is still the king of the tablets, Amazon has managed to make some inroads into their market share thanks to the fact that the Kindle Fire is much cheaper. While people can get their hands on an iPad for upwards of $400 and for the top of the line iPads around $700, the Fire is simply $199 per unit. That particular price point has allowed the Fire to leave the Barnes and Noble Nook tablet, which was released last November, in the dust. While the Fire and the Nook Tablet were released around the same time, the Fire remains the device that people have been talking about.

Barnes and Noble has obviously taken note that one of the main reasons it has done so well is that it is currently the cheapest high-end tablet out there. Now a leaked document shows that Barnes and Noble is getting set to launch a new Nook Tablet that will directly take on the Kindle Fire. The new Nook Tablet, set to be announced tomorrow, will have 8 GB of memory (the same amount as the Kindle Fire) instead of the current Nook Tablet's 16 GB.

The current Nook Tablet is currently selling for $250 per unit, which is of course $50 more than the Kindle Fire. While there is no mention of price in the leak, we can only assume that they will be taking the price down to match the Fire. Of course, even if Barnes and Noble does launch a tablet that competes with the Fire as far as price and memory there needs to be something more offered before people are going to forsake Amazon's tablet. 

The two national chains have been battling ever since the eReader was first introduced on the market and it appears that Amazon and Barnes and Noble are now taking that fight in earnest to the tablet market. Unfortunately for Barnes and Noble, Amazon seems to be beating them in this sector. If the Nook is nothing more than a clone of the Fire, with a different brand name, don't expect people to get too excited. We should find out all the details on Wednesday and for Barnes and Noble's sake they better have something big to talk about.