How much longer will these be around? Image from Flickr.

We all saw it coming. Well, at least people who are even mildly interested in e-book readers saw it coming. The Barnes and Noble Nook has entered the scene as the next big contender in the market for devices used to electronically read books.

A few other companies have or will attempt to produce an e-book reader that will knock Kindle out of the first-place spot when it comes to sales of e-readers, but experts say the Barnes and Noble Nook just might do the trick.

How will Barnes and Noble Nook win?

Engadget dubs the Barnes and Noble Nook superior to the Amazon Kindle, but its only piece of evidence is the fact that the Barnes and Noble Nook has a feature that lets people lend out books. While this does mean the Barnes and Noble Nook is closer to simulating a real book, will it be enough to get people to spend the $259 to buy it?

While an e-reader isn’t the type of thing people get an instant cash loan for, I predict these will be very popular Christmas gifts. I think parents who want to find creative ways to get their teens and tweens to read will be all over these things. The question is, which e-reader will parents choose?

Price wars

The Barnes and Noble Nook retail price, $259, is $20 cheaper than the price of the latest Kindle model. That $20 difference might just be the winning factor, as the two products are very similar, besides the fact that Barnes and Noble Nook lets you lend out books and Kindle doesn’t.

Kindle has a keyboard built in below the reader screen, while Nook has a touch screen that lets users use a virtual keyboard when they want to do searches. Kindle has a longer battery life and a text-to-speech feature, but will that be enough to get shoppers to spend the extra $20?

Rumor has it the Barnes and Noble Nook will be for sale online and at Best Buy on Thursday.