Barnes & Noble to announce new e-reader May 24

Barnes & Noble Inc. is set to announce a new e-reader May 24, according to a regulatory filing from the company.

“In a meeting with investor analysts on May 4, 2011, Barnes & Noble Inc. ... indicated it expects to make an announcement on May 24, 2011, regarding the launch of a new e-reader device,” Barnes & Noble said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bookseller and e-reader maker didn’t say what the new device would be called, cost or look like.

But Barnes & Noble’s two existing e-readers have been called the Nook and Nook Color. The Nook, which sells for $149, features 2 gigabytes of memory and a 6-inch e-Ink screen similar to that of the rival Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader.

The Nook Color has a 7-inch color touch screen, 8 gigabytes of storage space, runs on a limited version of Google’s Android operating system and sells for $249.

Last month, Barnes & Noble released an update to the Nook Color that pushed it more in the direction of tablets, adding its own app store with games such as Angry Birds, a native email app and a Nook Friends social network, which allows users to see what their friends are reading, read book reviews, lend or borrow e-books, share how far along in a book they are and recommend titles to friends.

[email protected]