What new Nook e-reader will Barnes & Noble soon unveil?

The Barnes & Noble announcement that it will unveil a new e-book reader later this month is stoking speculation as to which of the two current B&N Nooks it might resemble: The Nook or its younger sibling, Nook Color.

Asked for details on the device, a B&N spokesperson would only tell us what the company has told investors: That it intends to make an announcement of a new e-reading device on May 24.

My guess is that the device will be an update to the original Nook. A leading reason is that the Nook has in some key ways fallen behind the Amazon Kindle, its key competitor. The B&N reader, introduced in 2009, is 50 percent heavier than the Kindle, a big difference in devices that are sometimes held for hours at time. It also uses an earlier generation of screen technology than the Kindle, a fact that's reflected in the devices' respective scores in our Ratings of e-book readers, available to subscribers.

In addition, B&N recently updated the firmware for the Nook Color to allow its to accept apps, which would be an unusual move to take just weeks before replacing or upgrading the device.

Recent moves by Amazon have also increased B&N's motivation to freshen up the Nook. By launching an ad-supported version of the Kindle recently, Amazon further widened the price difference between the least-expensive versions of the respective devices. Where the Kindle Wi-Fi is $10 cheaper than the Nook Wi-Fi, the Kindle With Special Offers is $36 cheaper—or nearly 25 per cent less.

Also, Amazon recently announced that the Kindle would soon, like the Nook, be able to borrow e-books from libraries, taking away another key advantage of the B&N reader over the Kindle.

It isn't yet clear how soon after the announcement the new e-book reader may be available. We will, of course, cover the announcement and acquire and test the resulting device as soon as possible.

—Paul Reynolds