A busy day in e-reader announcements. Some highlights:

—Barnes & Noble: Barnes & Noble event is hosting an event in NYC Tuesday—and the bookstore chain is expected to unveil its first e-reader there. Some additional details on the device, from a WSJ report: It’s priced at $259, will feature a color screen, and has been coined the Nook. There’s also speculation that the device will allow users to lend e-books to each other.

—Plastic Logic: Plastic Logic says it will officially show off its e-reader, which it is now calling the QUE, at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The startup says it will differentiate the device by focusing on the “lifestyle of the modern businessperson.” So, the QUE will feature “powerful tools for interacting with and managing ... content,” including PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents.

—Spring Design: And then there’s Alex, which could end up being the first Android-based e-reader. Spring Design says the device (pictured above) will have two screens—one where users will read texts and a second one below which could be used to access internet content linked to in the main text. The company says it is talking to “major content partners” and plans to release the device by the end of the year.

Not e-readered out yet? For our complete coverage, see our archives for eReaders.