While Amazon clearly controls the e-reader space, Barnes & Noble continues to beat them to the punch on key technologies. First, it was an Android-based color tablet. Then it was the front-lit e-ink reader.

Amazon has to react, probably faster than they’d like — they’re pushing out a new Kindle not even a year after the last one was released.

Update: As Soroush Khanlou points out, B&N did the touch e-ink reader first as well.

It took Amazon two weeks to do what none of the other tablet players could do for months: create a hit Android tablet. 

This, along with the fact that Barnes & Noble will probably soon move into the number two spot in terms of Android tablet shipments suggests something. And it’s not good for Google. 

A few quick thoughts:

1) Barnes & Noble makes fun of the Kindle Fire, noting that it looks like a BlackBerry PlayBook — completely fair and true. The Nook Tablet clearly looks nicer. 

2) But… the Kindle Fire is still at the magical $199 price point, while the Nook Tablet is at $249. The fact that Barnes & Noble wouldn’t match the $199 price shows you just how insanely low that is — and how aggressive Amazon is willing to be to win. 

3) The $50 price gap may not seem like a huge difference but remember that the Nook Tablet also doesn’t have a little thing called Amazon.com and all its related properties.

4) The Nook Tablet specs sound great, but again, it’s $50 more and doesn’t have Amazon.com. Further, at $249, the tablet clearly isn’t going to be good enough to match the iPad. So Barnes & Noble may feel a bit squeezed. They’re not the cheapest and they’re not the best.