Barnes & Noble unveiled its new tablet, the NOOK HD, on Sept. 25. The bookstore chain touts its new gadget as the lightest device with the highest resolution in the 7-inch tablet category. With the launch of the budget-friendly NOOK HD, Barnes & Noble has thrown the gauntlet to Google's Nexus 7, which is currently amongst the most popular tablets in this bracket. Here's a look at how the Nexus 7 and NOOK HD tablets stack up against each other.

Form Factor
The NOOK HD measures 7.65 x 5.00 x 0.43 inches as opposed to the Nexus 7's 7.81 x 4.72 x 0.41 inches dimensions. At 11.1 ounces, the NOOK HD is lighter than the 12 ounces of Google Nexus 7.

Processor and OS
A dual-core OMAP 4470 processor clocked at 1.3GHz powers the NOOK HD tablet, compared to the 1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor of the Nexus 7

The Nexus 7 comes with the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, whereas the NOOK HD will come pre-loaded with the older Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Display and Resolution
Both tablets have a 7-inch HD display. The NOOK HD, Barnes & Noble asserts, has the highest resolution in the current 7-inch tablet range. At 1,440 x 900 pixels resolution with 243 ppi, the NOOK HD betters the 1,280 x 800 pixels resolution of the Nexus 7 with 216 ppi. The NOOK HD features an advanced IPS display with a "fully laminated screen with no air gaps" as opposed to the Back-lit IPS display of the Nexus 7.

Camera
The Nexus 7 sports a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, whereas the NOOK HD does not come with a camera. 

Memory and Storage
Both tablets have 1GB of RAM and are available in the 8/16GB variants. However, the NOOK HD also has an expandable memory option of up to 32GB, courtesy of the microSD card slot.

Battery
The NOOK's rechargeable battery offers up to 10.5 hours of reading time, but details of the battery's size are not yet known. The Nexus 7 features a 4325mAh battery which supports up to 10 hours of e-reading.

Pricing, Colors, and Availability
Both tablets are priced similarly and the 8GB version will set users back by $199. The 16GB versions will cost $229 for the NOOK HD and $249 for the Nexus 7.

The NOOK HD is available in two colors: "Snow" and "Smoke", whereas the Nexus 7 is available only in black.

The NOOK HD is currently available for pre-order on barnesandnoble.com and is expected to hit the shelves by October end or early November. The Nexus 7 hit the shelves earlier this year and can be purchased from retailers or the Google Play store.