With Barnes & Noble characteristically mum on details about...

With Barnes & Noble characteristically mum on details about its impending May 24 announcement of a new e-reader, tech bloggers were left to speculate on what form the next Nook will take. The Wall Street Journal predicted a “more powerful combination tablet and e-reader” that might run Honeycomb, the Android 3.0 tablet operating system. CNET opined B&N will replace its $149 Nook e-ink reader, which it said, “has had major trouble competing with the third-generation Kindle in recent months.” PC Magazine suggested Barnes & Noble could be “changing course” and doing something “more complicated than a Nook hardware upgrade,” involving e-Ink’s Pearl display technology that would resemble Sony’s Reader Pocket Edition. The company told analysts Wednesday that it’s releasing a new e-reader May 24, and followed with an 8-K filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. In response to our questions about product details and which product the new reader might replace, Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said the company is not disclosing any additional information beyond its 8-K at this time. Regarding our questions about version 1.2 software updates for the Nook Color, which began late last month in a controlled rollout, Keating said, “We have noted that the update was available for manual download beginning on April 25 and the over-the-air updates were rolling out in the weeks following the announcement. It’s customary for software updates to roll out over time,” she said, adding that the company will not provide further details on timing. When our Nook Color had not been updated by Tuesday, a process that Barnes & Noble says will be done automatically to Nook Color devices with a Wi-Fi connection, we attempted a manual update following instructions on the Barnes & Noble website. After performing the download, we encountered an error message and then had to re-boot without loading the update when the keyboard locked. Although an item posted on the Barnes & Noble Facebook page Monday encourages users who are having trouble doing a manual upgrade to call tech support for assistance, we weren’t offered assistance when we called and were referred back to the website for online instructions. The tech support rep said we should expect the automatic update “either this week or next.” Many frustrations were reported on the Nook Facebook page, with various owners aggravated by not having received the update and trying to do it manually. Additional complaints covered lack of technical support for the manual upgrades, slower Internet connection following the update, paucity of apps, device crashes while playing games and inability to access Android Market apps. Some users, including those who had successfully received assistance, reported no problems with their upgrades and were pleased with the results. Brianna Partin, who said she worked for Barnes & Noble, advised Nook Color users to go to their local Barnes & Noble store to have a “bookseller update it for you. We are more than happy to do that for our customers.” Regarding postings about upgrade difficulties, Keating told us, “I think what you're seeing on Nook Facebook are postings from early last week when the Nook Color 1.2 software update caused a small number of Nook Color devices to revert to factory settings.” Barnes & Noble “immediately identified and addressed the issue,” she said. “Customers can re-register their devices with their Barnes & Noble account, then reload their previously purchased content to their device,” she said. .