Right on cue, Barnes & Noble launched a 7-inch color Nook, an e-reader that it’s positioning as a light tablet. The new Nook doesn’t offer any new screen technology in terms of color e-reading, so you’re stuck with the less-than-optimal LCD screen. But you will get access to advanced features like social media applications, music streaming and email. The Nook Color is based on Android and will be available as a Wi-Fi only model beginning November 19. Price is $249.

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After the iPad dropped, Amazon went against speculation and focused on its core, making the Kindle smaller, lighter and less expensive. Barnes & Noble is set to take a step in the opposite direction if a CNET source is to be believed. According to the insider, Barnes & Noble plans to launch a new color touchscreen version of its Nook e-reader next Tuesday. If you’ll recall, the current version of the Nook has an e-ink screen for reading and a color touch LCD for browsing reading materials. The new model will be Android-based, so it may even support apps, though it won’t be positioned as a tablet.

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Isn’t competition great? Not two months ago, we saw the first of several cheap, simple e-readers that Borders will start stocking, and now Barnes & Noble is dropping prices and introducing cheaper models of its own. The standard Nook that has been on the market since last fall will drop in price from $259 to $199. If that’s not cheap enough for ya, B&N also introduced a new Wi-Fi-only model that will come in at $149. The original Nook includes both Wi-Fi and 3G.

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Shortly before the iPad was trouncing both of them, the Nook had a strong month of March and beat out the Amazon Kindle in terms of e-readers shipped. According to numbers by Digitimes, B&N took 53 percent of e-readers shipped in March. Analyst Mingchi Kuo said that the strong showing was due in part to general consumer interest in new products, so the Nook won’t necessarily continue such strong numbers.

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In a robust firmware update, Barnes & Noble has brought a variety of new features to the Nook. Version 1.3 should be available to Nook owners as I write and offers some interesting new upgrades that they’ll surely enjoy.

Perhaps the most interesting is Read in Store. Barnes & Noble will add a number of free titles that will be available for streaming in retail locations. Nook users can tap into the free Wi-Fi already available in B&N stores and enjoy access to the titles while in the store. It’s unclear how many titles will be offered, but they’re supposed to include bestsellers and releases from all major publishers. The only catch is that titles will only be available for an hour per day, but users will be able to get a free peak at the book or come back several times to read it all (likely dropping some money on coffee and pastries in the meantime).

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According to rumors, Barnes & Noble is set to make the Nook a family by the end of 2010. Originally reported by Gizmodo over the weekend, B&N has a Nook 2 and Nook Lite in the production pipeline. Not much is known about what will separate the Nook and Nook 2, but the Nook Lite is expected to be a Wi-Fi-only model that loses $60 worth of price for a $199 retail price.

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Amazon had better go ahead and hurry things up with that Target Kindle distribution. Pressure is already fully on thanks to the Apple iPad and now the B&N Nook will be showing its pretty two faces at Best Buy stores everywhere. The book giant and electronic retailer reached a deal to distribute Barnes & Noble Nooks through the 1,070 Best Buy locations around the country, making the Nook even more accessible. The e-reader will go live at Best Buy on April 18.

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Barnes & Noble is wisely hedging its e-reader bets. With the iPad getting its last-minute prepping for presale tomorrow, the company announced that it will offer a free Nook app for Apple’s tablet expected to drop around the iPad’s launch on April 3. The application will give iPad users access to the million + titles of books, newspapers and magazines available from Barnes & Noble’s eBookstore.

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The Monday following Super Bowl isn’t really the day to be digging deep into the memory bank, but if you concentrate through the haze, you’ll remember that Barnes and Noble introduced its Nook all the way back in October. It was a hot release of the Christmas season– so hot in fact, that B&N experienced big supply/demand issues and spent the holiday season making announcements and updates about when people who were lucky enough to pre-order would actually receive that slim, brown box on their doorsteps.

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