Nook, the 6 inch ebook reader by Barnes & Noble is doing quiet well. The impressive-looking $260 device with a small, 3.5-inch LCD screen in the lower quadrant, has already been sold out for the year 2009 with a total of about 60,000 shipments for this year. The Nook adds touch capabilities and a bit of UI richness with the color LCD which Amazon Kindle lacks. Another interesting fact – The machine runs Google’s Android OS and some Android apps such as Pandora, a web browser, a twitter client called Tweet, Google Reader and a Facebook application work on it. A lot needs to be done for it to run other apps as dual screen causes some problem here, given that the main screen is not touch enabled.

Lets take a quick look at the features of “The worlds most advanced ebook reader”…

It uses E Ink technology for its main screen: a pale grey, matte surface which displays text (and monochrome images, with 16 levels of gray) in far more readable fashion than an LCD, thanks to its paper-like opacity. Nook’s easy-to-read E Ink display is more like a traditional book than a computer screen. With no glare or backlight, and adjustable text size, you can read comfortably for hours. Instead of staring into the glowing LCD screen, you’re reading light reflected off the surface of the screen, just as you do with paper, and that’s much more comfortable.

Like the Kindle, the Nook lets you browse, purchase and download books via AT&T’s 3G wireless network. Most books cost about $10, or less than half what they’d cost as new hard covers. The Nook also has Wi-Fi support, although it’s limited to B&N’s in-store networks, where you can use it to download books as well as special, location-specific offers.

When shopping for books or browsing your library, you can swipe through color representations of their covers on the lower screen. While reading, the display lets you pick between 5 font sizes and two or three different font faces, depending on the title. Nook has a 2 GB built in memory and also has an option for an expandable memory card.

The Nook’s secondary LCD screen adds a splash of color to the reader’s face. This little screen (just 3.5 x 1 inches) displays the Nook’s menus and controls, and it’s where a virtual keyboard pops up whenever you need to type (when searching for a book). It’s not multitouch, but you won’t miss that feature on such a small screen.

There’s a built-in MP3 player and a headphone jack, which works for playing music while you read, or for playing audiobooks. You can load the Nook with e-books, PDF files, images and MP3 files via a USB connection simply by dragging and dropping, just as you can with the Kindle. And the Nook supports e-book lending for some titles, depending on the publishers’ preferences. If lending is enabled for a title, you can send to a friend, who can then download and read it on their Nook (or, soon, on Nook applications for the PC and iPhone). While they’ve borrowed the book, you can’t read it, but it automatically returns to your library after 14 days.

Here is how Nook compares with other ebook readers in the market (source Chrunchgear ) :

Nook image courtesy of Barnes & Noble