Barnes & Noble announces the Nook Color

At a press event late this afternoon, Barnes & Noble confirmed what many (including our Paul Reynolds) had been speculating: The company will soon be shipping a new version of its Nook e-book reader with a color screen, the Nook Color.

The $249 device is available now for preorder and should ship and be in stores on November 19, just in time for Black Friday. The new Nook features a 7-inch color LCD touch screen and aims to be a hybrid of a tablet and a dedicated reading device. It's under a pound in weight and .5 inches thick, and has 8GB of storage (around 6,000 books).

The Nook Color is Android-based but has its own apps format, called Nook Developer. It's Wi-Fi only, so no 3G option, unlike the regular Nook. And it will incorporate Alive Touch technology for kids' books, which lets them interact with the stories.

We'll follow up tomorrow with a more detailed first impression of the Nook Color, particularly focusing on readability—or lack thereof—which has been the main disadvantage with LCD-screen (non e-paper) e-book readers (Ratings available to subscribers).

—Carol Mangis

—Carol Mangis