Barnes & Noble Releases a Color Nook
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 9:40PM 
Another shot was fired today in the ebook reader war. This time from Barnes & Noble, which announced a color, touchscreen version of its Nook reading device.
The NOOKcolor will go on sale Nov. 19 for $249. It has a 7-inch diagonal touchscreen that displays 16 million colors. Inside, the device has a Wi-Fi radio and 8 gigabytes of memory. It's 8 by 5 inches overall, 0.48 inches thick and weighs 15.8 ounces.
Is it an ebook reader or an Android tablet. It appears to be both.
It's built around the Nook electronic bookstore, which competes with Amazon.com's Kindle business, the color Nook is also aiming up-market, at the iPad and upcoming Android tablets.
The device is being pitched as a media consumption tablet, with the ability to browse the Web, play games, send e-mail, participate in social networks and store and play digital music. Bt will people buy this device to read?
The NOOKcolor is based on Google's Android operating system -- Version 2.1. The store is inviting Android developers to build Nook applications, although they won't be able to directly transfer Android apps to the Nook because it has a custom interface and controls. This isn't good news. Do we need another Android device with another grouping of apps? Too confusing for me.
The new Nook will sync with Google's Gmail, so you can use Gmail contacts with social features, including a feature that lets you lend e-books to friends with Nooks.
How the NOOKcolor will do during the holiday season is anyone's guess. What I do think is if this Nook doesn't take off, Barnes and Noble may be forced to concede to Amazon and Apple.
