That’s just the start–it gets more complicated. It is Google’s desire to offer books via web browsers as the reading interface. Google would prefer Chrome as the browser of choice, but its e-book reader will no doubt work with any popular browser. That said, the current crop of e-ink based e-readers (Nook, Kindle, Sony) either don’t support web browsers or do a terrible job in rendering browsers. Even the Alex, which has both an e-reading screen and a smaller LCD screen, does a poor job in displaying web browsers. So, unless e-ink, e-reading devices, which offer a more comfortable e-reading experience embrace new LCD technology that offers color, faster refresh rate and a low-glare display that comes close to e-ink, Google’s plan will have to focus on tablets and other similar devices. New suitable LCD displays from Qualcomm’s Mirasol and Liquidvista shows great promise, but have no public roadmap for e-reading deployment.

There’s more. It’s unclear whether Apple will allow Google’s Chrome browser on the iPad. Yes, Google Editions will work with any browser (including Safari) but there may be features in Chrome that can optimize content. From a precedent standpoint, can Apple keep Chrome off of the iPad when, in 1998, the U.S. courts forced Microsoft to allow Netscape’s browser in its OS alongside Explorer?
And just how will Google Editions render e-books in its browser? Anyone who has read an e-book in a web browser would agree it’s a poor substitute for an e-ink, e-reading device. Google Editions will probably rely on HTML 5’s ability to create browser-like containers for e-book applications. How long will it take Google (and possibly developers) to create nifty value-added e-books for that platform?

And yes, there’s even more. There are issues around DRM, support of ePub, whether or not Google plans a device to support Google Editions and how Apple will maneuver to head Google off at the pass. The e-book/e-reader wars are still in pre-game mode. Look for a number of announcements to come from the upcoming Book Expo America show in New York.

If this report is true, then I suspect Yahoo’s newspaper consortium will lose much of its momentum if not outright come to an end; there are more than 600 newspapers in the consortium and HotJobs is one of the key services Yahoo provides its partners. Based on Microsoft/Bing’s desire to work with newspapers (well, at least News Corp.) and Google’s recent efforts to attract newspaper publishers (Living Stories, search blocking), two companies are eager to take over what Yahoo started.

Amazon proudly boasts that the Kindle was its leading product choice during the early shopping season. One has to wonder how forthcoming Amazon is in telling buyers they can only buy books from Amazon.com (that is without illegally jailbreaking book files) and that most books available for free from public libraries will not work on the device. And while Amazon has added PDF support to the Kindle via a firmware upgrade, it will not read Adobe ACS4-encrypted PDFs (which is what most libraries utilize). Those issues aside, the Kindle won’t be facing much competition for those looking to ride the early wave of standalone device e-reading.

Even with Kindle winning a one-horse e-reading retail race, it will be a hollow victory. For starters, a number of “enhanced” e-readers, such as the Alex, will be announced at the 2010 CES show in early January. These Android-powered enhanced readers divert from the pure standalone category by offering a second screen for viewing videos and even web content to provide developers a more fertile platform for value-added book applications. Also consider Google Edition and its cloud-based approach to manage all of a reader’s book content and provide access across all devices. If successful, Google flattens the device opportunity and could force the Amazons of the world to be “Google Edition” friendly. And then we must consider the moving target that is the launch of the alleged Apple Tablet. The rumor mill’s magic 8-ball now says second half of 2010 for an Apple Tablet launch. In the meantime, Creative, Dell, Microsoft and most of the Taiwanese PC manufacturers have an e-reader, enhanced e-reader, tablet or netbookish device on the drawing board.

The simple caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) seems like the watchword for those currently shopping for e-readers. What seems cool today could be a paperweight next holiday season. Publishers must not lose faith in the digital opportunity despite the market cacophony; pushing for open standards and creative value-added e-reading applications should be the publishing world’s  immediate course of action.

As Yahoo learned with Yahoo Answers, presenting algorithmic search results with those offered by real-life humans is a challenge. That same challenge exists in blending algo results with those from Twitter and Facebook. As more content sources begin to become part of a one-box search experience, presenting them to consumers in a navigationally simple UI, will take the search world 10 blue links to 100 blue links. Lastly, I can see the merits of digging meaningful nuggets out of Twitter but still don’t understand what Facebook updates provide as value-add to search results. When I type in the search query “health clubs” do I really want to know that someone on the other side of the globe is at his health club? As my teenaged daughter would say, that’s TMI.

There’s more: the device will have two screens. A top screen, the reading pane, is an e Ink display and will not come with a web browser (E Ink based-browsers offer a notoriously poor web experience). The bottom TFT screen will be a color display and is powered by the Android O/S which, Barnes and Noble says, allows for optimum navigation and user experience in a small space on a mobile device. . The bottom window will be for shopping but also will support Android apps, however any apps that require web access will have to use WiFi support as 3G service is available only for book-related transactions (which keeps bandwidth costs down for B&N). Barnes and Noble will also facilitate synching of all content between The Nook, smartphone apps and Barnes and Noble’s desktop ereading software.

Anyway you slice Barnes and Noble’s announcement, The Nook is a game changer for the current market and one that will force Amazon’s hand even with Amazon’s recent release of an international Kindle. Regarding loaning ebooks you can lend Nook to Nook, as well as Nook to other Barnes & Noble eReader-enabled devices (such as iPhone, iPod touch, select Motorola and Blackberry smartphones, PC and Mac.) Just as with a physical book, the lender will not have access to the book during the two-week period (or earlier if the person you loaned it to returns it sooner). Banres and Noble plans on fully leveraging its retail presence by offering Nook owners special in-store content such as book previews. By encouraging Nook users to browse and shop with their devices in Barnes and Noble stores, these early adopters become product evangelists (not to mention demonstrators).

By supporting e.pub, the International Digital Publishing Forum’s open ereading format, consumers have a wider range of choices than with Amazon’s Kindle which supports Amazon’s proprietary DRM, .azw. with only the Kindle DX supporting PDF. Consumers also can borrow books from public libraries who offer digital lending programs as the vast majority of libraries support .epub and .pdf with their titles.

Because of its rich set of features, retail merchandizing possibilities and open format support, The Nook not only impacts ereaders in the market (Kindle, Sony Reader) it takes some of the luster off of such pending ereaders as Plastic Logic’s Que and the new wireless iRex. The next move in the ereader space belongs to Amazon. That sound you heard was the air being let out of the Kindle’s tires. Amazon is now forced with the decision to be pragmatic and support the open .epub format or risk being locked out of the market.

Playing the speculation game, here are some thoughts:

*Barnes and Noble is launching a device because it wants to flex its bricks and mortar book retailing muscles by having a device it can sell in its more than 770 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada giving it first-mover advantage in that area. B&N circa 2009 is as much a lifestyle shop (complete with Starbucks coffee bar, comfy chairs, Muzak 2.0 and WiFi) as a bookstore, so it may be a suitable early-adopter environment to peddle a gizmo that most consumers have not even seen. No matter how powerful and global Amazon’s aspirations are, they remain solely an online merchant and an ebook reader just may be the sort of device that has to be seen to be sold.

*Barnes and Noble is trying to to gain additional traction for the .pdb book format is supports. That’s a bit of a long shot because no other devices other than the upcoming Irex support that format. It is possible, but not likely, that B&N will announce .epub support with its new device.

*Barnes and Noble, in offering a wireless device allegedly powered by Android will somehow bring Google to the ebook device wars just as a number of carriers (T-Mobile) and handset manufacturers (Motorola) have in the cell phone space. What would that mean? Certainly it could be a preemptive shot at Apple whose Apptab is not slated for release until Q1 2010 thus missing the 2009 holiday retail rush.

Also worth pondering is which carrier would join B&N to power its new device (which has received FCC approval)? I believe the smart money is on Verizon who would love to counter AT&T’s win with Amazon in being the carrier of choice for its new international Kindle.

This is one rumor that, if brought to fruition, will benefit consumers. The new B&N device will almost certainly be priced lower than any Kindle and perhaps even lower than Sony’s $199 ereader. B&N may be able to take a major hit on the device if it can use it to 1) provide uplift in sales in its retail stores 2) bundle a book club with the gadget 3) get some cost and channel support from a wireless carrier partner.

All of this speculation is interesting save for the .pdb support. If the new B&N device offers a format that is not supported by any other fixed device (I tried putting a B&N download on my format agnostic Astak EZReader and was foiled) then perhaps we’re right back where we started. A device Tower of Babel that is reminiscent of beta vs VHS.

Also notable for the device is that it will be priced at $399, far lower than many of IREX’s previous offerings, and will be available at both Costco and Best Buy in time for the holiday shopping season. Best Buy says it will train its associates on the fine points of e-readers, but Costco is generally a self-service shopping experience, so it will be somewhat of a merchandizing challenge to sell the IREX to a Kindle-conscious consumer.

Barnes & Noble (www,bn.com) is the lead online bookstore partner which is good news up to a point. While Barnes & Noble will have a sizeable selection priced competitively (competitively to Amazon, that is), B&N offers titles in the .pdb (Palm Database) format deployed by Fictionwise, a nine-year-old online e-book, e-tailer B&N recently purchased. The .pdb format is one used by many mobile devices and PC-based readers, but goes somewhat against the trend of adopting .epub as the universal e-book format. Nothing will keep publishers on the sidelines longer than a format/DRM fray. The IREX DR800SG, out of the box supports many formats including .epub. The decision to partner with B&N is a pragmatic one from a business standpoint given B&N’s name and reach. With multiformat support, however, it does not box consumers into a one channel e-book purchasing choice (ala Amazon). Consumers (like me) can even easily download books from their public libraries for free using OverDrive’s Adobe Digital Editions supporting technology and read them on the IREX devices. Choice, not to mention value-priced devices, is what will drive the ebook space.

IREX, a spin-off of Phillips, has the vision and technology chops to be a major player in the e-reader space. IREX could be the first to come out with an affordable color device and may be the device the successfully works with newspaper companies (through some major partners) to offer a reading experience that does more than render PDFS of news pages.