Sneak peek at Barnes & Noble's new Kindle killer?

Barnes & Noble is expected to unveil a highly anticipated rival to Amazon's Kindle electronic reader next week. Gizmodo has what it says are first photos of the device, which combines elements of the Kindle and iPhone.

Writes Gizmodo:

The layout will feature a black and white e-ink screen like the Kindle has—and a multitouch display like an iPhone underneath other. Pow!

Barnes & Noble trails Amazon in the e-reader market, but has been playing a rapid game of catch up. In recent months, the bookseller has cut content deals with forthcoming readers from Plastic Logic and Irex, and also added hundreds of thousands of free public domain books scanned by Google.

Like Kindle, Barnes & Noble also has its very own iPhone app that lets people browse and buy books.

The iPhone-like elements of Barnes & Noble's reader, as depicted here, would certainly be an interesting feature, though of course Apple itself may be about to enter the e-reader market with its rumored tablet, which could shake up the game.

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About Eric Engleman

ERIC ENGLEMAN is senior technology staff writer for TechFlash and the Puget Sound Business Journal, covering online retail giant Amazon.com. Engleman tracks Amazon's increasingly complex business, spanning ecommerce, Kindle, cloud computing, and more. He's been covering technology and other industries for the Business Journal since 2003.

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