Amazon has been killing it these past few years with its line of Kindle eReaders and Kindle Fire tablets. Barnes & Noble on the other hand has been struggling to remain relevant by releasing arguably better hardware at lower prices, but it just never seems to work. Well, it’s going to try again anyway with an update to one of its most popular eReaders.

Barnes & Noble announced today that a new Nook GlowLight is now available. The original GlowLight was the first eReader with a bright backlight screen to help people read even in broad daylight. Amazon fired back with the Kindle Paperwhite last year and even released an updated version of it back in September. The new Nook GlowLight is presumably set to compete with the new Paperwhite as it sports a lighter designer and a better display.

“Barnes & Noble was the first company to recognize and answer E Ink customers’ number one request with a breakthrough integrated light for reading in the dark and today, with the new Nook GlowLight, we’ve taken the reading experience to a new level,” said Mahesh Veerina, Chief Operating Officer of Nook Media. “We developed an all new lightweight design that’s extremely comfortable to hold in one hand for people who love to read anytime, anywhere. Lighter and brighter, with crisp, sharp text, no full page flashing and no ads, our redesigned reading experience is more immersive than ever making the device a must-have item for long-form readers. We welcome customers to their local Barnes & Noble store where they can try the new Nook GlowLight and see it shine.”

In its press release, Barnes & Noble stresses that the Nook GlowLight is on par with, if not better than, the Kindle Paperwhite, but the most important differentiator is that the GlowLight has no ads. As you may know, Amazon ships all base models of its eReaders and tablets with ads. You can pay an extra $20 to remove said ads, but the fact still remains that all the cheap eReaders from Amazon will bombard you with ads on the lock screen. That won’t happen on the GlowLight and Barnes & Noble obviously hopes that’s enough to bring people over to Nook.

Aside from the new hardware and its ad-free stance, Barnes & Noble is also bringing a new shopping experience to the new GlowLight. Now the Nook store features a “Now on Nook” on the homepage that gives users “a curated list of content suggestions from Barnes & Noble booksellers.” It also introduces what the bookseller calls Nook Channels – a variety of storefronts that “expand [consumers’] passions for the authors and subjects they love.”

The new Nook GlowLight is available today for $119 – the same price of a Kindle Paperwhite. Barnes & Noble wants you to remember, however, that it’s the only one with an ultra-bright, affordable eReader without any ads.

[Image: Barnes & Noble/Business Wire]