The "Nook" digital reader is displayed at a launching in 2009 in New York City. Barnes & Noble on Monday announced it will release Nook tablets in Britain in the first move by the world's largest book seller to sell the e-readers outside the United States.

Barnes & Noble on Monday announced it will release Nook tablets in Britain in the first move by the world's largest book seller to sell the e-readers outside the United States.

Nook tablets and digital content will become available in October at a new online shop at nook.co.uk.

"We are proud to be able to offer our top-rated line of Nook reading devices and our award-winning digital bookstore to the discerning and highly educated consumers in the UK," said Barnes & Noble chief executive William Lynch.

"We're confident our award-winning technology, combined with our expansive content - including books, children's books, magazines, apps, movies and more - will bring UK customers the option they've been waiting for."

Barnes & Noble said that it would start by focusing on offerings including digital books, magazines and newspapers. Pricing details were not disclosed.

The company last week cut prices in the US to $179 and $199 for a Nook Tablet with 16 gigabytes or 32 gigabyte of memory, respectively.

The price of a Nook Color was trimmed to $149.

The moves came as people snapped up recently-launched Google Nexus 7 tablets and rumors heightened that Apple next month will release a "mini" iPad with a seven-inch screen that would go head-to-head with Nook, Kindle and Nexus 7.