Nook manufacturer Barnes & Noble has unveiled a new development program designed to bring a range of apps to its recently announced Android-powered NOOKcolor e-reader.

Dubbed NOOKdeveloper, the new set up – which developers can sign up for today – enables studios to work on apps designed to tap into the firm's open eReading platform.

As such, the company claims developers will be able to employ audio, video, and plug-ins via the NOOKdeveloper SDK's web APIs, serving up puzzles or word games designed to compliment the books already available on Nook.

Nook nous

"With NOOKdeveloper, we're opening our doors to content providers and developers to change the future of reading together," said Barnes & Noble digital products president Jamie Iannone.

"We invite developers across all platforms to join us in growing our eReading ecosystem by creating engaging content and reading-centric applications for our millions of customers to enjoy on NOOKcolor and beyond."

The NOOKcolor, which comes with a 7-inch 1024x600 resolution multitouch touchscreen LCD display, is set to launch on November 19.

Commentators have already billed the device it as Barnes & Noble's response to iPad, rather than an attempt to take on Amazon's Kindle.

However, while the launch of an app development program certainly takes Nook into iPad territory, priced at $249, NOOKcolor is closer commercially to Amazon's two current Kindle models – priced at $139 and $189 respectively.

Barnes & Noble will roll out its SDK, tools, documentation product specifications and marketing resources through a dedicated portal over the next couple of weeks.

Developers will be able to submit their apps for sale from early 2011. You can find out more at the developers website.

[source: Fierce Mobile Content]