On Friday, Barnes & Noble officially released the version 1.3 of the update software for its popular Nook e-reader, which is inclusive of a web browser, quicker page turning and various new games. The Nook, which runs on Google's Android, now also allows users to read books in Barnes & Noble retail stores for free. In addition, the update fixes a couple of bugs.

Nook, which already boasts some of the features that are not available in its arch rival the Kindle, has now managed to widen the gap even more. Not only does Nook offer double the selection of e-books, a million as compared to the 500,000 offered by Amazon, but it also offers support to EPUB format, and even lets users borrow e-books from various public libraries and friends.

With the new update, Nook would allow users gain access to the web through open Wi-Fi points, and Kindle, on the other hand, can only utilize its own 3G network.

The new games added to the Nook are Chess and Sudoku, Android based, and the Web browser has been labeled with a "beta" tag.

The Nook e-reader is still priced at $259.