The eReader-tabler hybrid market is going to get even more crowded very soon if a new rumor is correct. The Digital Reader web site reports via multiple sources that book seller Barnes and Noble plans to launch the Nook Color 2 on November 7. That happens to be eight days before Amazon plans to start shipping its highly anticipated Kindle Fire product. If true, Barnes and Noble clearly hopes to take some of the "fire" out of the Kindle Fire launch.
Details about what the Nook Color 2 will have in terms of hardware and software were not revealed. When it was first released the original $249 Nook Color was a big advancement compared to Amazon's Kindle, which was mostly a bare-bones eReader. The Nook Color was an Android-powered tablet, complete with support for games, web browsing and more.
Amazon fired back a few weeks ago with its low priced $199 seven inch Kindle Fire. The tablet will be able to do lots more than just be a vessel for downloadable books. It will also support the streaming of movies, TV shows, and music via Amazon's cloud servers. It also has a cloud-based web browser called Silk. Amazon has already hinted that it has receive a lot of pre-orders for the tablet but exact numbers have not been revealed.
Barnes and Noble and Amazon are already fierce rivals in the eReader market and it sounds like with the launch of the Kindle Fire and the possible release of the Nook Color 2 the two retailers will continue to battle it out. Will there be room for both or will one dominate the eReader-tablet market space?
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