Barnes & Noble is starting to make headway against huge rival Amazon.

The retail giant announced that it will launch its devices, starting with the e-readers, in the U.K. in October, along with a new U.K. online storefront for the Nook digital bookstore and "partnerships with leading retailers" to sell them, according to Tech Crunch.

The move will make Barnes & Nobles in direct competition with Amazon's Kindle Fire.

The first Kindle Fire has yet to launch in the U.K., but it is expected to do so this autumn.

However, according to The Telegraph, technology analysts predict that the UK release may be skip the first generation of the tablet, which has been received with mixed reviews, and fast forward straight onto the second generation of the 10-inch tablet.

According to Tech Crunch, both the Kindle Fire and Nook are built on forked versions of Google's Android OS.

Tech Crunch reported that this news comes at a time when people are scrutinizing how well the Nook line of devices is performing, questioning what sort of an impact Microsoft's $300 million investment in B&N will have longer-term.

Amazon announced that it had a deal with book retailer Waterstones that include other Kindle devices as well as e-books. Many though that B&N would partner with the U.K. bookseller, but it now promises "partnerships with leading retailers," although it didn't specify any names.

Amazon already offers its Kindle e-readers in a number of global markets, according to Tech Crunch, and in that sense this is about B&N catching up: "The first products to be available when the company begins offering its products in the UK in mid-October," it notes, "include Barnes & Noble's line of...E Ink Readers, NOOK Simple Touch and NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight."

The new Kindle Fire 2 is expected to have a new processor, new display possibly with more pixels per inch to attract more customers, SD card slot, and a new version of Android (Ice Cream Sandwich is possible) running a new Amazon-only user interfact that will not support Google's Play store, according to Pop Herald.

Barnes & Nobles recently cut prices on there 7-inch Nook Color and Nook tablet products to stay competitive with Amazon's Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7.

Consumers can now pick up a Nook Color for $150, an 8GB Nook Tablet for $180 and a 16GB Tablet for only $200. The price cut is a $20 savings for the Color and the 8GB Tablet, and $50 off the 16GB Nook Tablet.