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Nook Color getting Android 2.2 and Market in January, current hacks could make it blow up? (update)
You had to know the hacking community was going to have a field day with the Nook Color -- a $249 Android Tablet hiding behind with a thin e-reader coating. Indeed it didn't take long to get rooted nor for Android 2.2 to get installed on there, but that particular hack comes with an interesting potential side-effect: small-scale thermonuclear explosions. Enabling FroYo requires disabling the device's battery monitoring process, the very one that would be responsible for shutting down the device before the cells start overheating and, ultimately, going critical. Yeah it's unlikely, but it could happen. Meanwhile, another hack has enabled the Android Market, but those instructions begin with a very daunting warning: "Very smart people have failed at this. If the following instructions confuse you, you might want to wait until an easier method has been developed." And, thankfully, there might be a much easier way coming, with Barnes & Noble reportedly telling Smartphone Mag that Android 2.2 will be officially coming to the Nook Color in January. Yes, Android 2.3 is what's happening, but this is still an exciting upgrade as it will finally also allow access to a traditional Android home screen and even enable the Android Market. Update: Okay, cancel that order for an asbestos carrying case. One of the developers of the Nook Color root wrote in to let us know that there is a secondary temperature monitor which should keep things below the ignition point. Hack away -- or just wait a month. Update 2: Barnes & Noble PR just got back to us to reiterate that Nook Color's own shop will begin adding apps in early 2011 and that there are currently no plans to enable Android Market. Move along, nothing to see here, folks. [Thanks, Ryan]
Combined sales of smartphones and tablets to surpass the humble PC in 18 months, says IDC
Our supply checks say that 10 out of 10 analysts are insanely bullish about tablets -- despite the fact that there are only 2.5 competitive products on the market, and one of them only came out a month ago. So, naturally, it isn't difficult to scrounge up sales predictions that show the tablet rocketing into the stratosphere, cutting into PC market share, while also expanding the market outright to accommodate its post-PC ways. Gartner's guess is 55 million tablets next year, while IDC has a more conservative estimate of 42 million, but both predict a sharp, exponential rise in the following years, and IDC takes it one step further: 18 months from now, combined smartphone and tablet sales will eclipse the PC, it claims, with both categories hovering in the mid-400 million range. Now, that number is mostly smartphones, which isn't an unprecedented shift in and of itself -- the PC took a major hit in popularity in Japan once the kids got ahold of these newfangled phone things -- but overall it represents a shift from the open-ended, flexible, and powerful PC to the narrow, task-specific, app-driven nature of the iOS and Android kind. Or you could spin it the completely opposite way: people need phones, so they buy a nice phone. No PC death knell in that behavior, and the tablet is still a very niche product with some good PR. Either way, we'll be much more impressed with this sort of market battle when it's the tablet (perhaps with a little help from the smartbook or netbook-lite category) going up against the Windows and Mac PC head-on, without smartphones shouldering most of the load.
Nook Color gets an SDK, documentation aplenty
Barnes & Noble may still be calling it an e-reader first and foremost, but the Nook Color has now taken one more step into full-fledged tablet territory with the release of an official SDK add-on for the Android SDK. That comes complete with an Android Virtual Device emulator, Android Debug Bridge (or ADB) configuration settings, sample code and, of course, plenty of documentation to get you started. Of particular note, that finally includes a complete specifications list, which confirms once more that the device runs on an 800MHz TI OMAP 3621 processor, and is backed up by a POWERVR SGX530 GPU. Hit up the source link below for all the details. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nook Color finds its roots? Angry Birds say yes
We already knew the Nook Color was capable of something a bit more than its initial offering, having seen Angry Birds run fairly smoothly on a dev unit. In fact, it's exactly what we want in between chapters of Animal Farm, and the xda-developers community, right on schedule, are providing pictorial evidence of its rooting conquests. So far we've seen the aforementioned game / addiction, a few other additions to the extras menu, and even Launcher Pro (image after the break). NookDevs has a page going with instructions, but even it admits to being a work in progress, so we're gonna emphasis a little stronger than usual: don't try this at home unless you're absolutely sure what you're doing -- or don't mind a broken tablet or two. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Editorial: My next iPad won't be a 7-incher, but I wish it could be
It took me a while, but I'm starting to fall in love with my iPad in a way I haven't loved a gadget for a long while. There's something about the form factor, the apps, the OS that feels just right and makes me want to do as much of my daily computing on it as possible. Of course, that's still a pretty small sliver of my overall day, and the iPad isn't even close to replacing my laptop for the large majority of my work, but I'm finding myself increasingly doing casual browsing, casual gaming, serious writing, and, yes, even some reading on Apple's 10-inch tablet. But I have one "big" problem with the tablet that doesn't look like it'll be solved anytime soon: it's not 7 inches. Will Apple ever eat its words and build a smaller iPad, or will the 7-inch form factor be left to the rest of the emerging tablet market to fight over?
The Engadget Show - 015: Sprint's Fared Adib, Google TV creator Salahuddin Choudhary, Galaxy Tab, Nook Color, and more!
Get ready humans, because we have an all new, amazing Engadget Show fresh out of the box. First up, Josh and Paul sit down with Sprint product chief Fared Adib to talk about the birth of the EVO 4G, what exactly defines "4G," where Sprint sees itself in relation to Verizon and AT&T, and why skinning Android devices might be a necessary evil. Next, Nilay goes hands on with the fully-automated house of the future at the Savant Experience Center in an exclusive new Engadget Show segment, then joins Josh on stage for a in-depth chat with Salahuddin Choudhary, a Google TV product manager who helped create Google TV in his 20-percent time. Then, Paul, Nilay, and Josh discuss all things tablets in a raucous roundtable featuring the iPad, Galaxy Tab, and Nook Color. To round it all out, exileFaker rocks the house with some killer chiptunes music with visuals by HN_i_C. What are you waiting for? Watch it now! Hit up the video stream after the break or download the show in HD below! Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller Special guests: Fared Adib, Salahuddin Choudhary Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Danny Madden Music by: exileFaker Visuals by: HN_i_C Savant segment music by: Kris Keyser and exileFaker Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Taped live at The Times Center Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 015 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 015 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show - 015 (Small) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (MP4). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (MP4). [RSS MP4] Add the Engadget Show feed (MP4) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically. [HD RSS] Get the Engadget Show delivered automatically in HD. [iPad RSS] Get the Engadget Show in iPad-friendly adaptive format. %Gallery-108045%
Nook Color review
It's hard to believe we're already writing a review of the Nook Color, considering Barnes & Noble's first foray into the e-reader world was revealed just over a year ago. In that time, the company has gone from no presence in e-books to owning 20 percent of the marketshare, and now has moved from a somewhat sluggish hybrid E-Ink / LCD device to a full color, tablet-like product. The Nook Color is definitely a major step forward, boasting a completely revamped, Android-based OS, and a big push into the children's book and periodical market (particularly full color magazines). Both of these spaces have yet to be mined successfully by players like Apple and Amazon -- and it's clear Barnes & Noble is aware of the stakes. Beyond book reading, the Nook Color potentially offers a tablet alternative that can (or will be able to) do much of what is possible on an iPad or Galaxy Tab. In fact, the company plans to launch its own Android tablet app store in the first quarter of 2011, providing a consistent, compatible application experience that could get the jump on other Android tablet-makers' plans (hello Samsung). Of course, this is a fierce market, and with a $249 price tag, Barnes & Noble has to play to win on every front. So, is the Nook Color the next logical step in e-readers? Is it a healthy alternative to more expensive tablets? And can it cement the prominent bookseller's place in a hotly contested new space? Read on for all those answers in the full Engadget review! %Gallery-107498%
Nook Color now shipping to early birds, limited retail
The $249 Nook Color has decided its November 19th shipping date wasn't soon enough so it's jumped ahead of it with pre-order deliveries starting today. Barnes and Noble's Nook-with-a-hook will be cheering those who reserved or pre-ordered it as shipping ramps up through this week, and there'll even be some "very limited" quantities that you'll be able to buy at retail locations like B&N, Best Buy, Walmart, and Books-A-Million stores. All of them should be getting live units for the curious to try out the Nook Color as well. As to the older, less chromatically able Nooks, B&N is promising a firmware update next week. Skip past the break for the full PR.
Nook Color processor revealed: ARM Cortex A8-based TI OMAP3621
Barnes & Noble provided most of the specs for the Nook Color when it launched the device on Tuesday, but notably absent was any word on the processor that powers the e-reader. Thankfully, Texas Instruments has now come out confirmed that the Nook Color uses its ARM Cortex A8-based, 45nm OMAP3621 processor (still no word on the speed). What's more, the processor is actually part of TI's eBook Development Platform, which the Nook Color also relies on. That's particularly interesting considering that the processor and platform support a few features that the Nook Color does not, not the least of which is 3G connectivity. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean we'll see a future Nook Color that takes advantage of those features, but at least we know it's not too much of a stretch for Barnes & Noble to add them. Update: Texas Instruments pinged us to say the chip within the Nook Color hums along at 800MHz.
Barnes & Noble intros Nook Color: the worst of all worlds
Barnes & Noble introduced a new color version of its Nook eBook reader on Tuesday and as expected, it features a color touch screen. Unfortunately for B&N, this new device is unlikely to pose a significant challenge to either Apple's iPad or Amazon's Kindle. The big advantage that both the Kindle and the original Nook had was a monochrome e-ink display which uses very little energy and generally provides excellent readability. The iPad on the other hand needs to be charged daily but its color LCD provides plenty of capability for displaying photos and video that are utterly beyond what a slow moving e-ink screen can do. This allows iPad users to utilize any of hundreds of thousands of apps for all sorts of tasks. The Nook Color has a color LCD with a touch screen and runs on Android. But unlike forthcoming Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, this device is going to be locked down and will only be able to run a limited number of B&N-approved apps such as Pandora and Lonely Planet. Even with WiFi-only, the Nook Color only runs for eight hours, at least two hours less than an iPad. With limited capability, poor battery life and a higher price than the Kindle, the Nook Color doesn't really seem like it would be very appealing to anyone. At $249 it seems like either a full featured iPad or Galaxy tab would be a much better choice even at a higher price. [Via: Crunchgear]
Nook Color first hands-on! (updated: with video)
Sure, the lighting's not great and its only a mock-up at this point, but that's Barnes & Noble's new Nook Color. We're being told there will be a chance to handle a real working unit soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the shots below! Update: We just got some more time with a functional unit, and while we aren't allowed to use it, we can say the build quality is sturdy, there's a good rubber backing, and the viewing angles are quite nice. It's crisp, too, the screen, although page turning is somewhat sluggish, the software perhaps not finished. Article view is a nice touch, being able to read just the piece formatting-free -- and you can skim through the articles alone by swiping to the left and right. You want some more shots of the UI in action? You know where to look. Update 2: Well, that was tough! We finally got some "alone time" with the Nook Color, although we still weren't allow to put our apparently grimy fingers on it. You can check it out in the video below, but we still seem to think there's some software tweaking going on as it's a bit sluggish to switch through menus. While we're still of the mind that this device should have had a PixelQi or Mirasol display, we can report that the LCD is responsive to finger swipes and the viewing angles are quite good (believe us, we were looking at this thing from all angles as book-loving journalists swarmed it.) We can't and won't make a final call on the Color until we get one into our hands, but the video below should give you a better idea of the UI and performance until then. %Gallery-106031% %Gallery-106023%
Barnes & Noble Nook Color revealed
Barnes & Noble just unveiled its all-new Nook Color, an Android tablet fronted by a 7-inch color touchscreen... so long, e-ink! (Not really, the $149 original Nook is sticking around for now, owns 20 percent of the e-reader market, and is about to get a major software update). B&N is billing it as a hybrid of e-reader and tablet device, and has beefed up its software with a full-on tablet-style UI, along with Facebook and Twitter integration. There's built-in WiFi (802.11b/g/n) and 8GB of storage, but no 3G at this point. Thankfully, the price stays aggressive as a result: $249. You might think that means the screen is going to be weak, but B&N has managed to put an impressive-sounding "VividView," 16 million color, 1024 x 600 IPS display in this thing. Interestingly, there's a "full lamination screen film" on top of the LCD to reduce glare, apparently from the backlight, not just from external light sources. Build-wise, there's that striking corner handle we saw before (smacks of the XO-3, doesn't it?) and a microSD slot, with a 0.48-inch thick body and a 15.6 ounce overall weight. Battery life takes a notable hit, of course, with a rating of 8 hours of reading with the WiFi off. Of course, underneath it all is still Android, and Barnes & Noble is launching the Nook Developer program to allow third party apps on the device, and it even ships with a few favorites like Pandora and Lonely Planet. The color screen also enables a new library of "Nook Kids" children books, full-color magazine and newspaper subscriptions, and video playback if you're in the mood. The Nook Color ships on November 19th, pre-orders are available now. Looking for more? Check our hands-on video, photos, and impressions of the Nook Color! %Gallery-106025%
Live from Barnes & Noble's 'Very Special Event'
To think, it's been just over a year since Barnes and Noble's Nook was officially unveiled, a 6-inch e-reader with a secondary, Android-powered colored display for navigation. And here we are now, in attendance at a "very special event" from the bookseller's Union Square store in New York -- for what, we can only guess. Stay tuned, things could get very colorful.
Nook Color revealed by overzealous screen protector?
Barnes & Noble's done a pretty decent job of keeping a supposed Nook Color hidden from our prying eyes, but an errant accessory may have jumped the gun -- the "Nook Color Screen Film Kit," to be precise, whose product image is pictured immediately above. CNET discovered the protective film hanging out on Barnes & Noble's website, and quickly grabbed this picture before it could be removed. Even if we're legitimately looking at the new Nook, of course, this doesn't tell us much about the seemingly button-less product underneath. How's this: We'll go out on a limb and tell you it's got a color touchscreen.
Nookcolor.com domain snapped up by Barnes & Noble, hints at Nook Color device
At some future point in time, when the technology finally allows it, all ebook reader displays will make the jump to color. Perhaps that's what Barnes and Noble is thinking by registering the nookcolor.com domain. Then again, "Nook Color" is the name rumored for B&N's new 7-inch color touchscreen device said to cost a mere $249. Or maybe it's just a collection of colorful snap-on bezels for its existing Nook. Whatever it is, we'll be treated with the truth on Tuesday when B&N hosts its very special event. Be there won't you, we will. [Thanks, Matthew C.]
Barnes & Noble prepping new Nook with full color touchscreen?
Yeah, the Nook already has one color screen, but its primary display is depressingly monochrome. Now there's word on the street, from a reliable source of CNET's, that Barnes & Noble will be bringing a full-color, Android-based, touchscreen Nook to its event next Tuesday. That sure sounds a whole lot like a full fledged Android tablet, which would be quite a departure for Barnes & Noble -- sure, the Nook is Android-based, but it hardly acts like it currently. Still, there's a smell of Android tablets in the air, and it wouldn't be horribly surprising to see B&N move in this direction. CNET's tipster says the device will be called the Nook Color, and retail for $249. That's pretty low for a 7-inch touchscreen LCD device, but perhaps (hopefully) B&N has its eye on an alternative tech like Mirasol or Pixel Qi? Either way, the existing Nook will apparently continue to be sold as a lower-end version, so e-ink aficionados have no need to throw their hands up in despair just yet. Stay tuned!
