The worlds of publishing and consumer electronics have been all atwitter during the last week about two exciting additions to the options for readers who choose digital reading devices for their content consumption : The Nook and the Apple Tablet.

Last week Barnes & Noble launched the Nook, obviously in direct competition to Amazon's Kindle 2, at the exact same price as Kindle 2, $259, but boasting some impressive distinguishing features. The Nook has a dual screen that displays both grayscale (shades of black) and color print. It allows readers to browse through all the books in a store without downloading through content streaming via in-store WiFi connections, and it can be synced with about 100 mobile devices for portability.  Perhaps most distinguishing is the Lend Me feature, which allows the purchaser to share books with other readers by allowing for the transfer of files for up to fourteen days from purchase. However once the file has been transmitted, it can no longer be opened on the original Nook that purchased it. The drawback for the device, in my mind, is that it is centered on going to a bookstore for the browsing and purchasing. Sadly perhaps, it seems the trend is away from that particular experience.

The other device being talked about is the Apple Tablet. Everyone from the New York Times to Newsweek to bloggers from Australia are speculating about the impending release of this multi-functional appliance.  It is thought to be an over sized iPod that will operate as a media player, web browser, and e-reader. It may also have some notebook features. It will offer high resolution color on an LCD screen. Unlike the other readers that use e-paper, the Tablet may have the problem of causing eye strain as many experience in reading their computer screen for long periods of time. The Tablet is expected to offer better file management than other popular digital readers, and may therefore be a popular choice for college students. One other area of speculation is that Apple may be negotiating a 30/70 split with content developers ( book, newspaper, magazine, and application).  If this is true, it would create a great incentive for content developers to work with Apple. The split with Amazon for the Kindle is exactly the reverse, with developers keeping only 30 percent. Newspapers in particular may find a great means of distribution with the Tablet. No one has seen a Tablet to date but speculation is that the appliance will cost about $800, far higher than the Sony Reader at $199 or the Nook and Kindle 2 at $259.

What is not in doubt is that technology appliance manufacturers are paying a lot of attention to the publishing marketplace and focusing on delivering content in a greater number of formats on more and more convenient, readable, portable, and accessible readers that meet the growing demand for reading without paper. At the moment, there are almost thirty formats for providing content on such devices. The most popular are the Kindle format which is available on the Amazon Kindle; the e-Pub open format which is used by the Sony Reader and the Nook; e-Reader which is freeware available on the iPhone, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile devices; and PDF, which is the Adobe format used on home and office computer screens. Some speculate Apple will use an open format for their Tablet while others note that Apple has always used proprietary software in the products.

No one knows which format will prevail, if any. It is possible that in the end there will still be many formats used for delivering content on digital reading devices. Publishers must continue to keep up with the advances and expansions in this important area. Dorrance Publishing, for example, makes each new book published is available in all the formats discussed in this post. For a minimal investment in software, it makes good sense to be able to offer books to potential buyers in whatever format they find most convenient for them.