Nook WiFi and Kobo eReader Touch Edition assault the Amazon Kindle fortress: a chart

The e-reader market just got a lot more crowded this week with the launch of the touch-enabled Nook and Kobo eReader Touch Edition. Will either device be able to take down the Amazon's industry defining Kindle? We've broken down the specs on the two new readers, the Kindle, and Sony's comparable Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350SC) to find out which device will come out on top. There's a lot of overlap features between the different readers, like infrared touchscreens and Pearl E Ink displays. All of those important details and more in the chart after the break. Check it out, because you obviously like reading things.

	Barnes & Noble Nook WiFi	Kobo eReader Touch Edition	Amazon Kindle (2010)	Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350SC)
Price	$139	$129	$139/$189*	$179
Release Date	Pre-order now, ships June 10	Pre-order now, in-store early June	August 2010	September 2010
Storage	2GB	1GB	4GB	2GB
Card Slot	microSD	microSD	N/A	N/A
Processor	800MHz TI OMAP 3	800MHz Freescale i.MX508	532MHz Freescale i.MX353	Sony has not disclosed
Weight	7.48 oz	7.05 oz	8.5 oz / 8.7 oz	5.64 oz
Dimensions	6.5 x 5 x 0.47 inches	6.5 x 4.5 x 0.4 inches	7.5 x 4.8 x 0.3 inches	5.7 x 4.1 x 0.33 inches
Screen	6-inch Pearl E Ink with zForce infrared touch	6-inch Pearl E Ink with zForce infrared touch	6-inch Pearl E Ink	5-inch, Pearl E Ink, Neonode infrared technology
Advertised Battery Life	Two months	Two weeks	Two months	Two weeks
WiFi/3G	WiFi	WiFi	WiFi/3G	N/A
Keyboard	On-screen	On-screen	Physical	On-screen
Button(s)	1	1	38	5
Formats	EPUB, PDF	EPUB, PDF	AZW, AZW1, TXT, MOBI, PRC, AA, AAX, PDF	EPUB, PDF, RTF, TXT, BBeB DRM
*Amazon recently announced a $164 ad-supported version, as well.

Touch Enabled Nook Hands-On

Kobo eReader Touch Edition Hands-on

Amazon Kindle review

Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350SC) review

PSA: New Nook Color partitioning only leaves 1GB for music, other sideloaded content

If you're planning to pick up a Nook Color, keep an eye out for a little blue dot on the box -- no, they're not defective, but new models with the dot have been tweaked to make sure Barnes & Noble retains control of most of that (already limited) internal storage. Updated partitioning leaves just 1GB of internal storage for sideloaded content, such as music and movies, with the remaining 4GB reserved for content purchased from the book and app stores. Previous models allowed sideloaded content to utilize all 5GB of available storage, but the change was made "to ensure ample space for a customer's Nook Library and Nook Apps," according to B&N. We're sure you could figure out how to reclaim those extra gigs, but you won't be able to transfer your entire music library out of the box. Luckily, the Nook still has its microSD slot, allowing you to add up to 32GB of storage for music, movies, and whatever other content you need to keep yourself from using your e-reader to actually read.

Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble logs 1m Nook app downloads in first week, people are probably playing Angry Birds instead of reading

We were pretty stoked when Barnes & Noble finally made Android apps a legit feature on the Nook Color (lack of Market access be damned) and, unsurprisingly, many of you were, too -- the company reports that within a week of making these applications available, it hit 1 million downloads. It would seem we can glean two stunningly obvious things from this tidbit: one, the addition of features through software updates makes people happy. Two: you people really feel the need to play Angry Birds on every device you own, don't you? According to B&N, the never-ending avian spectacle topped the paid app list, with Fliq Calendar leading the free ones. Missing from this stat, of course, is any insight into how fast this catalog is growing -- a good question, since these Android applications have to get tweaked especially for the Nook Color before you can download 'em. Self-congratulatory press release after the break.