The Nook system is heading to the UK this Autumn, following the announcement of international expansion from Barnes & Noble.

The move into the UK will include both the physical hardware devices as well as the content through the new online store at Nook.co.uk. 

The system will look to rival the likes of the Amazon Kindle, with 2.5 million digital titles on offer, including books, newspapers and magazines. Barnes & Noble has made a point of specifying that top-selling UK titles will be covered, although no clue on prices yet.

In terms of the hardware, there will be the Nook Simple Touch and the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, although the press release teasingly says "first products" - suggesting we'll see more in the future, hopefully matching new releases in the US. 

Missing from the selection is the Nook Color and the Nook Tablet, suggesting that, like Amazon, Barnes & Noble is targeting readers primarily, launching its reader devices rather than tablets.

The Nook Simple Touch has a 6-inch E Ink touchscreen display with an 800 x 600 resolution. It comes with Wi-Fi connectivity and measures 165.1 x 127 x 11.9mm, weighing 212g.

The Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight adds the feature that many Kindle owners will want, and that's a technology that will bathe the screen in light, so you can keep reading in the dark, without having to resort to the bedside lamp. 

"We are proud to be able to offer our top-rated line of Nook reading devices and our award-winning digital bookstore to the discerning and highly educated consumers in the UK," said William J. Lynch, chief executive officer at Barnes & Noble.

Those discerning and highly educated consumers (that's you) will also have a choice of where to buy their Nook, as Barnes & Noble has confirmed that it will be partnering with "well-known" UK retailers.

There's no word on who this might be, but with WHSmith offering the Kobo, as well as moving its ebook store into the Kobo system, that's unlikely. Waterstones sells the Kindle, but then so do supermarkets such as Sainsbury's and Tesco.

Exact availability and pricing is expected to be announced in coming weeks; we'd expect it to be competitively priced to rival the Amazon Kindle.