The Nook Color paved the way for the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet by showing there’s a market for a content-driven low-cost tablet. Slowly the Nook Color gained access to email, a proper web browser and even apps. Now, a year after it was released, the Nook Color is more tablet than ereader. Today’s update brings Netflix and Flixster to the Nook Color. The update also brings two new Nook services: Nook Comics and PagePerfect Nook Books. The PagePerfect Nook Books gives publishes a bit more control over how content is displayed on the Nook Color’s 7-inch screen. This media type first debuted with the Nook Tablet and is now available on the older Nook Color.
Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) is blurring the lines between the $199 Nook Color and $249 Nook Tablet with a major update for the Color, adding access to streaming video through Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX). The company launched the Nook Color in 2010 as the “reader’s tablet,” “the first full-color touch device dedicated to reading everything and built on Android.” But Barnes & Noble has gradually moved away from positioning the Nook Color as a reading-centric device.
Meanwhile, it calls the Nook Tablet, which it launched just last month, “Everything NOOK Color has PLUS.” The Nook Tablet is preloaded with Hulu Plus, which the Nook Color is not receiving in this update, but the Color’s Netflix addition could be enough to induce users to stick with the Color for now instead of upgrading to the Nook Tablet. On the other hand, if Nook Color users are ready for an upgrade, they might consider the $199 Kindle Fire instead of the $249 Nook Tablet.
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