Nook Color apps
Nook Color apps

The Nook Color has been making headlines in recent weeks, ever since Barnes & Noble announced the coming of the touch-screen, full-color LCD mobile reading device.

It’s a niche gadget for people who want to read books and magazines on the go. It rings in someplace in the middle, being not quite as powerful and versatile as an iPad, but far more capable than Amazon’s Kindle e-reader.

This week, Barnes & Noble finally released the software development kit that will let Android app developers to create apps for new Nook Color. Unfortunately, this is not nearly as exciting as it sounds.

While there are hundreds of thousands of Android apps available in the Android Market, along with dozens of mobile casino games ready to be played at various Android casinos, the Nook Color won’t be able to take advantage of any of these.

Even though the Nook Color is an Google Android powered device, programmers will have to create apps specifically for the device. Experts say it won’t be too difficult to port various apps and games to the Nook platform, but remind users that Barnes & Noble will have the ultimate say over any official Nook Color apps, and they are not likely to be very open to certain genres like games and gambling.

The 7 inch touch screen would make the Nook Color a decent mobile gaming device, but at this point it’s not wise to expect too much. Anyone looking for a color e-reader with gaming capabilities should check out the Apple iPad instead. Apple recently began to open up to real money casino games in the Apple Apps Store, and there are dozens of top rated iPad casinos that offer both for-fun and real-money mobile casino action.