24
May
nook-new-2-228x300

Barnes And Noble Unveils The Next Nook: 2 Months Of Battery Life, Android, E-Ink, And More For $140

Posted by in Barnes & Noble, News, Nook

It seems Barnes and Noble gave everyone a bit of a surprise today. It was expected that the bookseller would be launching a 3G version of its wildly popular NOOK e-reader (or maybe even a 3G NOOKcolor), but instead, B&N went straight for the competition's throat, launching the 6-inch e-ink display sporting, Android-powered (albeit Android 2.1) NOOK Simple Touch Reader. And all for the low, low cost of $140 - a price suspiciously reminiscent of a certain other e-book reader.

nook

Look mom, no buttons!

Anyway, as I said, the screen is e-ink - so you're only getting black and white. But you're also getting absolutely ridiculous battery life: B&N claims 2 months on a single charge with Wi-Fi turned off.

30
Mar
cyanogen

CyanogenMod 7 RC4 Has Arrived For All Supported CM Devices - Bug Fixes Abound

Posted by in Aria (Liberty), Desire (Bravo/BravoC), Desire HD (Ace), Development, Droid (Sholes), EVO 4G (Supersonic), EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), HTC, Legend, Motorola, myTouch Slide (Espresso), Nexus One (Passion), Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Samsung, Wildfire (Buzz)

CyanogenMod 7 has earned its reputation as the most reliable Gingerbread ROM, even though it hasn't yet entered stable mode. And tonight, the fun goes on - RC4 RC3.14159265358979323846264338327, as the CM team so lovingly refers to it, has just been launched for all supported CM devices.

While RC4 doesn't contain any ground-breaking new features, it does bring a number of bug fixes - for example, hardware acceleration has been added to the Nook Color, and EGL has seen a big fix. It isn't perfect yet - kmobs notes that there may be some "lingering GPS issues on the EVO and the N1 call audio bug hasn't been fully fixed" - but it's still worth the update.

11
Mar
nook bluetooth

Nook Color Can Now Use Bluetooth For Keyboards And SIP Calling

Posted by in News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

We learned a couple of months ago that Bluetooth had been unlocked for Nook Color on a developmental level, but not until today has it been available for users.  Developers fattire and verygreen have collaborated on a CM7 SD card bootable ROM that will let you sync your Bluetooth keyboard or headset to the "eReader." As trusted dev dalingrin noted earlier in our comments, the Bluetooth functionality has also been committed to the CyanogenMod 7 nightlies and is now available.

It has hardly been perfected yet, as early reports are saying that the Bluetooth range is currently ranging from one to five feet, but the fact that these ambitious devs have taken this eReader one step closer to having full tablet functionality is quite impressive.

28
Feb
nook-colorebay

[Deal Alert] Hot! Nook Color On Sale For $200 ($50 Off) From Barnes & Noble's eBay Account

Posted by in Deals, NOOKcolor (Encore), Tips & Tutorials

As  more high-end Android tablets hit the market, the prices can be pretty overwhelming (I'm talking to you, Motorola XOOM). While it doesn't sport cutting-edge specs, the 7" Barnes & Noble Nook Color has been taken on as a pet project by many in the development community (even running a mostly stable port of the Honeycomb SDK preview), and can be turned into a solid $250 tablet. Now, if you act quickly, you can change that to a $200 tablet when you snatch it up from the manufacturer's eBay account.

Here's how to get in on the action:

  1. Navigate to the correct listing by barnesandnobleinc
  2. Checkout with promo code CBARNESDD
  3. Enjoy your $200 (with free shipping) Android tablet!

30
Dec
NC_rooted_angrybirds

Heads Up: Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor Update Rolling Out, May Reset Rooted Devices

Posted by in Barnes & Noble, Development, News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

Device updates that break root are fairly common - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that the majority of updates do so. What's a bit less common, though, is an update that resets your device because you're rooted. The device in question here is the NOOKcolor, and unfortunately it looks like that's exactly what's happening.

Before I dive into the details, I think it's important to note that I doubt that even as much as manufacturers and carriers dislike when people root their device, it's pretty far over the line for them to remotely wipe the devices of people who have done so.

13
Dec
image

Rooted Nook Colors Now Market-Capable, Terms And Conditions Apply

Posted by in Apps/Games, Development, News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

The rooting of Barnes & Noble's delicious IPS-wielding e-reader took place a couple of weeks ago, rendering the device more of a tablet than a single-use reading terminal in one gloriously justifying move. As with most other tablets, however, it lacked one thing: proper Google app support with access to the Android market. Of course, with the main rooting hurdle already surmounted, it was only a matter of time before these problems were dealt with, too. Some folks in the know over at NookDevs.com have put together a meticulous tutorial to turn that 7" slab into all you've ever wanted it to be.

04
Dec
nookSS

Video Of Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor Running Android 2.2.1 AOSP Surfaces, But Details Are Scarce

Posted by in Development, News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

Details are stupidly scarce on this right now - there isn't even an XDA thread, and Google's not showing any hits either - but YouTube user jacememes has uploaded a video of a NOOKcolor running an Android 2.2.1 AOSP (Android open source project) build. That's certainly a fast turnaround time, given that the device was just rooted a few days ago.

nookSS nookSS2_version

The video was shot with an Android phone, so it's not the best quality, but it's more than enough to show what it needs to. Unfortunately, it's fairly short - 1:41 - and about 40 seconds of that time is just the NC booting up, meaning that in the following 1:01, it's slow because it's still loading everything.

29
Nov
angry birds nc

Barnes And Noble NOOKcolor Rooted; Sub-$300 Android Tablet That Doesn't Suck Is Now Available

Posted by in Barnes & Noble, Development, News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is the only Android-based tablet worth considering. But is it? That question is now up in the air since Barnes and Noble's $250 NOOKcolor, an Android-based e-reader, has been rooted. While before the deed was done it was just that - an e-reader - it's now taken on a life of its own, a life complete with Angry Birds:

angry birds nc

The procedure is still a bit complicated (as you'll see for yourself below), but it's definitely a start - until z4Root, SuperOneClick, or some other one-click solution becomes available, I've got a feeling this is your best bet.

26
Oct
image

Barnes & Noble Announces NOOKcolor: 7" IPS Goodness In A $250 Package

Posted by in Barnes & Noble, Devices By Manufacturer, News, Nook, NOOKcolor (Encore)

Building on the strength of the growing e-Reader market, bookstore giant Barnes & Noble has just formally unveiled its latest device: the NOOKcolor. Rumoured for some time now, but never offering much in the way of solid details, the covers are now off this full-color touchscreen device.

Hard internal specs are still few and far between, but in the case of an e-Reader one thing matters most: the screen. Thankfully B&N has seen fit to equip the NOOKcolor with a high resolution 1024x600 7" IPS display. This "In-Plane Switching" technology, often found in professional computer monitors, trumps the S-LCD of Samsung's Galaxy Tab in terms of color fidelity and viewing angles, and has proven to be a success on the iPad.