For a while there, we were told that the Amazon Kindle and the Apple iPad were two distinctly different products, going after two distinctly different segments of the market. Then, people started reading more e-books through the iPad and they may have strayed away from the e-ink wonder of the Kindle. Now, Amazon is prepping to recapture that audience with a real tablet of its own.

This follows the recent news about Google’s initial foray into the e-book reader market with the iRiver Story HD, so I guess Amazon is starting to feel threatened on all sorts of fronts. Whatever the case, people are saying that an Amazon-branded tablet device is being geared for October. The irony is that Amazon could very well go with Android for its tablet… considering Google just stepped into its turf with the Story HD and, even before that, the rise of Google Books.

And let’s not forget about that tussle over the use of “App Store” by Amazon too. Again, ironic considering that there is a Kindle App for the iPad to boot. You’re partners and competitors, all at the same time. Somehow, I don’t anticipate the Amazon tablet to be a huge success, but if it can capture the same kind of attention as the Android-powered Nook Color, that might be good enough.

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That’s right. It’s all official and kosher now. The newest update pushes a real build of Android 2.2 Froyo to the device, effectively rendering it into a real tablet. There are some limitations — like only getting apps that B&N gives the thumbs up — but you are getting apps.

B&N will approve apps that are “suitable” for the Nook Color’s “reading-centric existence” and its 7-inch screen. Games like Angry Birds and Yoo Ninja probably work, as do “reading” related apps like Pulse News and Epicurious. For now, there are about 125 apps ready to go on the Nook Color.

Along with the official introduction of apps, the update also brings a better web browser (with Flash support), email and calendar programs, page-turning animations, and so on.

No, the Nook Color won’t exactly hold its own against something like a Motorola Xoom, but it costs less than half as much and can easily handle more than half the workload. At $250 with all kinds of official support, that’s tough to beat.

[B&N]

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What’s that? You thought the Internet generation was only interested in tweets and YouTube videos? As it turns out we still read books, but we’ll be increasingly turning to e-books moving forward. In fact, a forecast is calling for some huge growth in the e-book market.

As it stands, global e-book reader sales were recorded at about $1.9 billion last year with a total of just under 11 million units sold. According to Yankee Group, those numbers will increase to $8.2 billion and nearly 72 million units, respectively, by 2014. That’s a lot of growth.

The forecast also calls for a worldwide doubling of the installed base of e-readers each year (up to 127 million by 2014), even faster adoption by the European market (143% growth each year, compared to 19% growth in smartphones), and reductions in the average e-reader price. Right now, the average e-reader is $182. They’re expecting that to drop to $114 by 2014.

Considering that you can already pick up something like the Kobo Reader for $100, you realize how far we’ve come from the initial $300+ price tags of the first Kindles. That said, tablets like the iPad weren’t supposed to replace e-readers… but they have been for many people. Is that the real wave of the future or will e-paper and e-ink still have teeth? I don’t read a lot of books, but I am getting more and more tempted to get one of these things.

[Yankee Group]

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You don’t need to spend $800 to get your hands on a shiny new Honeycomb tablet. Indeed, you can go nuts with some Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb love by way of the Barnes & Noble Nook Color e-reader. The ROM is now available for download.

Granted, the Nook Color is not going to be anywhere near as powerful as something like the Motorola XOOM, but it also comes at a fraction of the price. And yes, it’s a real Android tablet in there.

The Honeycomb SDK preview for the Nook Color is already out and about, giving you access to graphics acceleration, accelerometer, wireless, touchscreen, buttons, and sleep/wake. You can get more deets from the folks at XDA-Dev, as usual.

[AndroidCentral]

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When it comes to the world of e-book readers, the Barnes & Noble Nook Color is a fairly unique breed. That’s because it’s really running Android under the hood, making it one of the cheapest Android “tablets” available on the market. B&N has been selling it as an e-reader, but it seems that the device’s status is getting upgraded.

How so? Barnes & Noble plans on upgrading the Nook Color to Android 2.2 Froyo next month. Granted, the Nook Color is nowhere near powerful enough to run the biggest of Android apps, but a little hackery on your part can make for quite an interesting little proposition. It helps that it’s getting more popular too with one million units expected to be sold by the end of the year.

Is it really just a matter of semantics, though? The existing Nook Color can technically qualify as a tablet too, since it’s already based on Android, but based on this report from Digitimes, it sounds like a more vanilla version of Android’s OS could be ready for the Nook Color. Personally, I think that could be just wishful thinking. B&N has already limited access to the Android Market on the device.

After all, the Nook Color is never going to have the horsepower of a PlayBook, iPad, or Galaxy Tab.

[DigiTimes]

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Barnes & Noble Nook dropped in price

One of the common speedbumps encountered by people interested in e-book readers is the cost of the device itself. This barrier to entry is getting easier to overcome, especially with today’s announcement of Barnes & Noble Nook. It may not get the same kind of attention as the Amazon Kindle, but it is just as powerful a device and even has a color screen to boot.  If you want the new Wi-Fi only version, you’ll just have to shell out a mere $150, that’s on par with the Kobo.

The new Nook e-reader was previously leaked out, but now the all-white Wi-Fi device has been made official. If you want 3G, you’re getting a break too, as the 3G Nook has dropped $60 in price, now being sold for just $200.  Aside from the addition of the 3G radio, the other difference between the two units is that the Wi-Fi has a white back, whereas the 3G has a grey back. Personal preference, I suppose, but the always-on connectivity might be worth the extra fifty bones.

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In fact, the Nook is a little too hot for Barnes & Noble to handle. Sales have been higher than expected and it seems like they can’t keep up with demand. The eReader is sold out for the holidays, but what about people who managed to get in the pre-order?

Barnes and Noble says that the people who were promised a Nook in time for Christmas Eve will likely still receive the popular handheld before that date. However, a “very small percentage of customers” may be affected by delays and they won’t get the Nook.

To help compensate for the people who are going without a Nook for Christmas (even though they pre-ordered it and were told they’d get it in time), Barnes & Noble plans to issue free $100 gift certificates. That’s more than a third of the $259 retail price of the Nook.

A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman said that affected customers were notified on Friday. If you didn’t hear anything, then I guess you can assume that your package should be coming in the next couple of days. If you did hear from them, then expect a $100 GC in your stocking instead.

Source: Reuters

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