In a first, a Nook beats the Kindle in our e-book reader Ratings [Consumer Reports]

A big milestone for the Nook (via All Things D)

The Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch Reader is more than merely a worthy competitor to the Kindle, as I wrote when I saw the e-book reader demonstrated late last month. Now that we've tested the device in our labs, it actually scores a few points above the Kindle in our tests. [To clarify: The Nook scores 1 point above the Kindle below it in the 6-to-7-inch category. But it ranges from 4 to 5 points higher than other Kindles.]

That marks the first time since the Kindle launched that Amazon's e-book reader hasn't been the top-scoring model in our Ratings (available to subscribers). It also continues the steady improvement in Barnes & Noble's e-book devices since the company rushed out a glitchy first version of the Nook during the holiday season of 2009.

In a first, a Nook beats the Kindle in our e-book reader Ratings