Barnes & Noble plans to release a new e-reader on May 24th. Original Nook came out in November 2009 at $149, and awards Best Selling E-reader 2010.
The Nook Color has only been out since last November and recently was updated to Android 2.2 (Froyo), which enabled Flash support. Barnes & Noble also launched an app store for the Nook Color as part of that update.
It's true, the Nook Color doesn't offer the processing power of some competing tablets such as the iPad 2, Motorola Xoom, or Samsung's Galaxy Tab, but the Nook Color's affordable $249 price tag has played a large role in its success, and Barnes & Noble probably won't refresh the Nook Color with more powerful components until the fall.
But, it has struggled to keep up with the leaner and slightly less expensive Kindle that features the latest generation e-ink display (Pearl) and double the battery life. So, Barnes & Noble finally will be replacing its lower priced e-ink e-reader, which has had major trouble competing with the third-generation Kindle in recent months.
We suspect that in building the new Nook, Barnes & Noble has been more cost-conscious because it knows that Amazon will most likely drop the price of the Kindle with Special Offers to $99 this holiday season and a Wi-Fi-only version e-ink Nook will have to approach that price to compete. That may mean Barnes & Noble will do away with the small color LCD and touch navigation system that has become the Nook's signature. We hope that Barnes & Noble moves to a full touch-screen system similar to the one that Sony now offers in its Reader line and really shrinks the size and weight of the device.
We should know more soon--May 24 is only a few weeks off--but in the meantime, let us know what you'd like to see from a new e-ink Nook.
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