As expected, today Barnes and Noble officially introduced the Nook Color, a 7-inch Toshiba PA3534U-1BRS Battery Android-based tablet that offers a full-color touch screen, Wi-Fi connectivity, and some slick social network interactivity. toshiba pa3535u-1brs battery It looks just like the leaked picture we saw yesterday, with the 16:9 aspect ratio (similar to the Galaxy Tab) and just one physical button. It runs on Android 2.0, but, just as with the original Nook, B&N designed the UI seemingly top to bottom Sony VGP-BPS13 battery to offer a specific experience.

First, the hardware: At just 8.1 x 5.0 x 0.48 inches in size and 15.8 ounces it’s definitely thin Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery and light (though slightly larger and heavier than the original Nook). The 4010 mAh battery is rated to last up to 8 hours; no word yet on Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery how long a standby time it has. The 7-inch, capacitive touch LCD display has a resolution of 1024 x 600 and technology that keeps glare down and offers wide viewing angles. It’ll ship with 8GB of on-board memory and has a Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery microSD expansion slot.

From the short demo we just saw the Android 2.0-based user interface looks very well-designed Sony VGP-BPS9/S Battery and easy to use. There’s no word yet on the chip running the Nook Color, but our experience with Android and LCD-based eReaders tells us Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery that the hardware needs to be speedy just as the software needs to be intuitive.

Unlike the original Nook, the Nook Color doesn’t come with 3G, only Wi-Fi (b/g/n). Barnes & Noble’s CEO indicated that this was to keep Dell inspiron 1545 battery the price down. Presumably not only because adding a 3G radio would have added to the cost, but also because wireless carriers are less dell latitude e6400 battery likely to allow a tablet-like device to have unlimited connectivity without a monthly fee.

Though the company stressed several times that the focus of this device dell studio 17 battery will be reading, the Nook Color also comes with apps. Aside from the browser there’s also a media player (audio and video), Pandora, and games like Sudoku and chess. Nook has also opened a developer program to encourage app creators dell studio 1737 battery to make Nook-compatible software. Upcoming apps include Lonely Planet, Dictionary.com, and QuickOffice. Plus, users will be able to publish quotes dell studio 1535 battery from the books they’re reading to social networks like Twitter and Facebook right from the page (similar dell latitude e5500 battery to the latest Kindle).

On the document front, users will now be able to read more than just PDFs. They’ll be able to view MS Office documents dell latitude e6400 battery (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and, when the QuickOffice app is ready, hopefully edit, too. This functionality is what may sway customers looking dell latitude e6500 battery for a tablet. If the Nook Color can serve as eReader and document editor and quick web browser, they may not need any of the dell latitude e4300 battery other thousands of apps in the Android Market. It’s no surprise that the Nook Color won’t be able to access the Market, though with the new Nook Developer program, Barnes & Noble is hoping to encourage programmers to create apps dell vostro 1510 battery that fit in with the eReading theme. (Please, someone make a notes app, quick!)

The bookseller also showed off some of the enhancements in eBooks and ePeriodicals that will go dell vostro 1310 battery with this new Nook. Nook Kids will feature full-color picture and chapter books, hundreds of which will have some interactive Dell inspiron 1545 battery elements built in. These will range from elements on the page your child can move via touch, or just small animations — in one book we saw birds flying past a window, in another the character blinked occasionally. Kids can also tap a button to hear a “professional Dell inspiron 1525 battery narrator” read the book to them. Will parents be comfortable handing over the Nook Color to young kids? I’m not sure I would. Then Dell latitude d630 battery again, I see people handing over their iPhones and iPads to kids all the time, so perhaps this will be no different.

Aside from the music element, another nice multimedia Dell studio 15 battery feature is the ability to play video. Users can load their own MP4s on the device, or watch embedded videos in special enhanced eBooks. The eReader can’t handle Flash yet, but it’s not out of the question for future Dell latitude d620 battery updates.

Customers can pre-order the Nook Color today for $249 and it will ship around Dell xps m1330 battery November 19. Though if it proves as popular as the original Nook, those who don’t jump on the bandwagon early may have a long wait for this eReader. Dell inspiron 6400 battery We’ll have a hands-on video up soon to walk you through this sweet new device.