Barnes & Noble is planning to announce a new e-reader on May 24, which may or may not be a variation on the company's current e-reader, the Nook. Barnes & Noble revealed its plans in an 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, noting that it had already discussed the announcement with investors.

"In a meeting with investor analysts on May 4, 2011, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (the 'Company') indicated it expects to make an announcement on May 24, 2011 regarding the launch of a new eReader device," reads the filing.

Barnes & Noble originally introduced its Nook e-reader in late 2009, with the Nook Color coming about a year later. The Nook Color differs from the original because of its LCD display—the original Nook uses e-ink, like the Amazon Kindle—and Barnes & Noble recently released a software update that brought Android 2.2 "Froyo," Flash 10.1, and a Nook-specific "app shop" to the Nook Color, making it into more of a legit tablet than a simple e-reader.

Because the Nook Color appears to be about as up-to-date as it can be, it's likely that the device that will be announced on May 24 will be an update to the original e-ink Nook. It may seem like there's not a lot to update, but it could see a better e-ink display and higher capacity battery, at the very least. After all, Amazon updated its own e-readers with higher-contrast e-ink screens and a slightly modified UI last year, and those have apparently been selling like hotcakes.

Then again, Barnes & Noble could also be looking at upping the specs of the Nook Color in order to stay ahead of Amazon's rumored tablet release for the second half of 2011. Some have speculated that an updated Nook Color might run Honeycomb (Android 3.0), putting it more on par with the Xoom tablet. There's already a separate project—headed up by Android enthusiasts—aimed at bringing Honeycomb to the Nook Color, so it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that Barnes & Noble has decided to try and do so itself.

The company's 8K filing didn't provide any further details on the new or updated device, so we're left speculating among ourselves for the next two-and-a-half weeks on what it will be. Barnes & Noble has proven that there's room for more than one e-reader in the market, though, so we're looking forward to seeing what May 24 will bring.