Barnes & Noble has officially unveiled its new "Nook" e-book reader today, and it's shaping up to be quite the contender for Amazon's Kindle. The Nook features a dual-screen display, which is comprised of a 6" E-ink screen and a color capacitive touchscreen for navigation.
It is powered by Google's Android OS, backed by AT&T's 3G network, and supports Wi-Fi – though, it will only connect to Barnes and Noble stores at launch according to Engadget, and there will also be no Web browser. It is outfitted with 2GB of internal memory (expandable to 16GB with a micro SD card), weighs 11.2 ounces (versus the Kindle's 10.2 ounces), and has a 10-day battery life (the Kindle has 14).
Barnes & Noble's e-reader also doesn't support text-to-speech functionality, despite being able to play MP3 files and having a built-in speaker system. That said, the Nook has one extremely valuable feature: it allows you to lend out e-books you've purchased for 14 days. Nook users will be able to send participating e-books (it's up to publishers) to any Nook, iPhone, iPod Touch, select BlackBerry and Motorola Smartphones, as well as Windows or Mac computers that have Barnes & Noble's eReader software.
The Nook is currently up for pre-sale at a price of $259, and it will ship in late November.