With new tablet releases flying fast and furious out of the gate, it's easy to overlook the comparable flood of ereaders still in the game. With Black Friday (News - Alert) rapidly approaching, and the market getting a little more competitive thanks to Amazon's expanded lineup, Barnes & Noble has taken an important step toward keeping its Nook line viable in the coming weeks, and has reportedly made the price cut on the Simple Touch with GlowLight official.

The recent price cut, now official according to reports, brought the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight down to $119, which represented a $20 savings over its original launch price and a price cut that kept the Nook offering in line with its immediate Amazon equivalent, the Kindle.

But that wasn't the only bargain in Barnes & Noble's collective bookbag, as further reports put Barnes & Noble as calling attention to more specific offerings in the Nook line.

For instance, the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight boasts its own AC adapter, while Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite only offers a microUSB cable to recharge their device. Plus, to actually get an AC adapter from Amazon would officially break the stalemate as Amazon charges an extra $9.99 for their official version.

The Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight also doesn't have any advertising to work with, unlike Kindle's $119 entry.

The problem here, of course, is that even with Barnes & Noble's solid offer – they're bringing in quite a bit that the Kindle isn’t – it's not likely to get anyone to switch due to the lack of interoperability between books bought on Nook and those bought on Kindle.

The two types of books simply won't migrate between devices.

Clearly, this is a move being done to reinforce the overall value proposition posed by the Nook. It's hard not to be paying attention to this kind of thing as the holiday shopping season approaches, and both stores and brands alike look to put their best deals forward to entice buyers who might otherwise budget such purchases out of existence.

Barnes & Noble clearly wants its Nook in people's hands – the Nook is not only a sale for them, but it also leads to further sales as Nook users buy books to power their devices – and to keep those hands free of Amazon devices. The only problem with this strategy is that it can only truly work for those users who don't have an ebook reader of any kind.

Few are likely to leave Amazon, and all the books they purchased through Amazon, to get a Barnes & Noble device when they can't take their books with them.

Still, with a difficult Christmas shopping season ahead for retailers, I'd say it's a good bet that some impressive prices will be in the offing – assuming, of course, anyone's actually buying.

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