Better late than never? Barnes & Noble launching UltraViolet video store for the Nook

Its competitors already have a firm head start, but book retailer Barnes & Noble is finally launching a digital video store  for its line of Nook tablets, the company announced today.

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Plenty of people criticized the Nook for not having a video store when it first launched, but I suppose it’s better to be late to the game than not show up all. And since the Nook is able to justify its low price by selling e-books (and other digital media), I’m actually surprised a video store didn’t happen sooner. Apple’s iPad, Google’s Nexus 7, and of course Amazon’s Kindle Fire all  have video stores.

“I think this fills out our content portfolio in a really strong way,” said Barnes & Noble General Manager of Emerging Digital Content Jonathan Shar in an interview with VentureBeat.

The store is appropriately called “Nook Video” and will be available on a variety of devices, including smartphones, competing tablets, and smart TVs. It’ll also allow you to retain and store a copy of any UltraViolet movie you’ve purchased from other digital stores within its Nook Cloud digital locker. Both movie purchases as well as rentals will be available.

As for a launch date, the company is tentatively scheduled to roll Nook Video out this fall in the U.S. and by the holiday shopping season in the U.K.