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Barnes & Noble Cuts Prices on Nook Color, Tablet
In perhaps one answer to the question of how tablet makers will react to a more crowded market for small screen tablets, the L.A. Times reports that Barnes and Noble is dropping the price on its Nook tablet by 10 percent, undercutting the Amazon Kindle Fire by $20. The company's Nook Color is also shedding $20, and will now cost $149. I'm glad to hear it; I've been using a Nexus 7 lately, and finding the size (like a trade paperback, including a protective case) far handier and more often used than any of the 10" tablets I've tried.
Cyanogenmod 7 runs on the Nook Color, making it a full-fledged android tablet, now for 10% less money.
While technically the Nook Color still something of a content feeder spoon, since the tablet form factor lends itself more to consumption of content than creation, it's not strictly a pipeline for Barnes and Noble content, as your post implies.
I use mine mainly to read comic book scans. Now, for a modest $149,. you can read every Batman ever.
While you're waiting for a color e-ink reader to show up, if you are near a Target store check their e-reader case.
They're pissed off at Amazon and clearing out the Kindle Fires for 30% off, but the real news is the Kobo. Target seems to have had a falling out with Kobo and recently started dumping their products. I picked up a couple Kobo Touch units (touchscreen, wifi, e-ink pearl, web browser, runs linux, easily root-able if you're into that sort of thing) for $29.98 and a Kobo WiFi (same as the touch, only no touchscreen, no web browsing, slower processor) for $20.98. Kobo sells these on their Web site for $99.99 and $69.99 respectively. For the price Target has them at, buy two, use one as a nice e-reader and use the other one for hardware/software tinkering. All the ones near me are now sold out, but you might still find some.
The backstory on Target's falling out with Kobo has a bit to do with getting cozier with B&N's Nook, but also Kobo sold them a bunch of e-readers that display ads when they're turned off if you update the software to the latest version. Target says Kobo was playing dirty by slipping that in without labeling the products as such, Kobo says Target was well aware and agreed to label the boxes in the stores and insists Target was neglecting to inform consumers to sell more units. It's really not a huge deal, especially if you're getting a $100 e-reader for $30, and if you don't update the software, it'll never show ads anyway.