Digitimes reveals that Barnes and Noble are going to upgrade their Android OS working on the Nook Color to Android 2.2 in January next year. The new version will enhance the functionality of the Nook Color, despite the fact it will not be able to access the Android Market.

The lack of the Google Android Market is deliberate from Barnes and Noble, who have outsourced the production of the Nook Color to manufacturing giant Inventec. Through NookDeveloper, Barnes and Nobles have their own application development.

Their recent Nook Color implements TPK Touch Solution's touch interface clearly stating the company's objective to enter the market of tablet PC's. The company's huge eBooks, magazines and newspapers library is a major competition to Amazon and its line of e-Readers, but also their tablet computers, which rely only on the Google Android Market as far as their content concerns.

The 2.2 update, or overhaul if you prefer, will give you access to a retooled Android Market, the typical Android home screen and even has pinch zooming with the browser. The Android Market app was still under development and was not on the device to see. I was told that Nook users may not have access to the full market. The Nook I looked at had apps loaded via the SD card slot and seemed to run fine. The device will still give you access to all of your Nook material via the current interface that will be swicthable for the user.

Competing tablets include the Apple iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab, but none of them have the same library as Barnes and Noble have.

Even if the Kindle e-Readers from Amzon are sparse at this time, Barnes&Noble have produced more than one million Nook Color tablet for this holiday season.