Barnes & Noble today confirmed that the Nook Color would get full apps. The company is planning a “major update” for April that will give it new apps, e-mail, and other features. It didn’t say whether this would include third-party app support.
Most believe the upgrade is actually a revision to add Android 2.2. The company has denied that it would ever add Android Market and would instead require curated app submissions that it believed reflected well on the Nook as an e-reader.
The Nook Color has increasingly gained a reputation as an ad hoc tablet among hobbyists and may have helped Barnes & Noble go ahead with the update. Users have regularly hacked it to run regular Android, including Android 3.0.
Along with the firmware news, Barnes & Noble added new magazines such as The Economist, Travel + Leisure, and ESPN the Magazine, as well as Nickelodeon children’s books for Nook Kids.
