The Nook HD and Nook HD+ are capable tablets, but they've been overlooked by many Android users since their release.

This is due in part to the fact that - like tablets from rival Amazon - Barnes & Noble stripped out Google Play, forcing users to purchase apps from its closed ecosystem.

Now this has since changed, however, as Barnes & Noble has thrown in the towel on the exclusive nature of the Nook App Store and will now allow Nook HD and HD+ owners to also buy apps directly from Google Play.

Time to play

By opening the doors to Google Play, Nook HD owners can now access the full panoply of 700,000 apps available in Google's shop.

This is a marked improvement over the paltry 10,000 or so apps that Barnes & Noble secured for its Nook App Store.

While this visibility was popular with those developers who supported the store, it also meant that Nook users never go to play games such as Temple Run. 

Still, the old saying 'nothing comes for free' does apply, as Google Play won't come to the Nook alone.

In order to install Google Play, Nook owners will need to accept several other Google apps such as YouTube, Chrome, Google Search, Google Maps, and Gmail.

[source: VentureBeat]