At its Tuesday media event in New York, bigwig bookseller Barnes & Noble (B&N) introduced Nook Color - a new version of its Nook e-reader, which allows users to view color e-books as well as access social media applications on the Internet.

Noting that ‘color’ is the next big thing in e-books and users and publishers had been asking for it, B&N’s chief executive William Lynch said during the Nook Color launch event that the 7-inch full-color touch-screen of the device boasts the capability of showing 16 million colors, along with an on-screen keyboard that allows users to enter Facebook updates.

Saying that Nook Color essentially combines the simplicity of a wireless e-reader with the functionality of a tablet, Lynch elaborated that the device will not only enable the users to read e-books like color picture books, but also help them access social media applications like Facebook and Twitter, and also through the Gmail service from Google.

Furthermore, the new Nook Color will also allow users to surf the Web, and access streaming music applications from sites like Pandora. According to B&N, the WiFi-only version of the device will hit the market on November 19 and will cost $249.

The 0.48-inch thick Nook Color is built on Google’s Android OS; and its key features include 8GB internal memory; a MicroSD card slot, and eight hours of battery life for continuous reading.