A new version of Barnes and Noble’s Nook was announced today at a special event in New York City. The Nook Color, which B&N is billing as a hybrid tablet and e-reader device, has a full-color 7″ LCD screen and will be joining the original e-ink Nook in B&N’s lineup.

The Nook Color still has built-in WiFi and runs on Android, but lacks 3G support. B&N has announced its plans to launch a Nook Developer program that will allow for third-party Android apps to get some Nook screen time. The Nook software is also newly integrated with Facebook and Twitter.

The new “VividView” display in the Nook Color has a 1024×600 resolution with 16 million colors, as well as a lamination film on its surface to help reduce glare from the backlight. Of course, the partial evolution into a tablet means a tabletization of the battery life: the Nook Color gets only eight hours of use with the WiFi off (for comparison, the regular Nook gets 10 days with WiFi off).

The Nook Color starts at $249, with the first-generation Nook still at $149. B&N is taking preorders now, and the device will ship starting November 19.

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Nook Color features LCD display, shorter battery life at $249