Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets » Spring Design http://www.androidpolice.com Looking after everything Android Thu, 24 May 2012 15:58:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Spring Design Alex eReader Rootedhttp://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/27/spring-design-alex-ereader-rooted/ http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/27/spring-design-alex-ereader-rooted/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:31:24 +0000 Artem Russakovskii http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/27/spring-design-alex-ereader-rooted/ Alex eReader rooted2 weeks ago on April 14th we saw the newest e-reader - Alex by Spring Design - finally go on sale, and now 2 weeks later, it is finally rooted. If you are wondering what rooting means, head over here, and then come back and read the rest.

The hacker by the name of Bluebrain from AndroidForums.com posted a message on the forum on Sunday showing his Alex running a shell as root (via the su binary, as usual).

Here are the rooting steps:

  1. Download update.zip (view the post for an updated link if this one dies).
  2. Copy it to the root folder of your Alex's SD card.

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]]> http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/27/spring-design-alex-ereader-rooted/feed/ 0 eReader Mega Roundup: Spring Design Alex VS Barnes & Noble Nook VS Amazon Kindle 2 VS Kindle DX - Detailed Comparisonhttp://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/09/ereader-mega-roundup-spring-design-alex-vs-barnes-noble-nook-vs-amazon-kindle-2-vs-kindle-dx-detailed-comparison/ http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/09/ereader-mega-roundup-spring-design-alex-vs-barnes-noble-nook-vs-amazon-kindle-2-vs-kindle-dx-detailed-comparison/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:00:17 +0000 Artem Russakovskii http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/09/ereader-mega-roundup-spring-design-alex-vs-barnes-noble-nook-vs-amazon-kindle-2-vs-kindle-dx-detailed-comparison/ imageLast year was definitely the year of the Kindle - we've seen a whole new generation of eBook readers come out, finally making this gadget category popular. To help you navigate the eBook reader waters, we spent the last few days compiling a table comparing some of the biggest eReader devices:

  • Spring Design Alex
  • Barnes & Noble Nook
  • Amazon Kindle 2
  • Amazon Kindle DX

If a category has a winner, it is highlighted in bold (in some cases there could be more than one winner).

Kindle DX features that are the same in Kindle 2 are marked with "<-".

Without further ado, let the best eReader win:

Alex eReader

Barnes & Noble Nook

Amazon Kindle 2

Amazon Kindle DX

Order of release4312
Release datesApril 14, 2010November 30, 2009February 9, 2009June 10, 2009
Internal memory2GB2GB2GB4GB
Expandable memoryYes - MicroSDYes - MicroSDNo - SD slot was removed<-
Average # of books that can fit in internal memory1500150015003500
CPU speed624 MHzUnknown but in the range of 533-800 MHz523 MHz<-
Screen(s)Dual, 6" E-Ink, 3.5" color LCDDual, 6" E-Ink, 3.5" color LCDSingle, 6" E-InkSingle, 9.7" E-Ink
Screen resolution6": 600 x 800 px
3.5": 480 x 320 px		6": 600 x 800 px
3.5": 480 x 144 px		600 x 800 px1200 x 824 px
E-Ink displayYes - 16 level grayscaleYes - Vizplex, 16-level grayscaleYes - 16-level grayscale<-
WiFiYes - b/gYes - b/g (+free WiFi at B&N stores)No<-
Global wireless (3G, 4G, etc)No but 3G, EVDO/CDMA, GSM support coming in a model that should be out later this yearYes - 3GYes - 3G with fallback to EDGE/GPRS<-
Web browserYes - on the color screen and the E-Ink screenStock Nook - no
Rooted Nook - yes		Basic browser but a firmware update brought a more capable browser<-
Content sharing/lendingNoYes, up to 14 days, between nook, iPhone, iPod Touch, PC, and Mac devicesNo<-
FM radioNoNoNo<-
PDF supportYesYesYes<-
Formats supportedEPUB, PDF, TXT, HTML, JPEG, GIF, BMP, MP3, MP4, Flash, 3GPEPUB, PDB (eReader), PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion<- + Audible format 4, RTF
SpeakerYes - stereoYes - monoYes - stereo<-
Text-to-speechNo (confirmed to us by Spring Design)NoYes<-
Auto rotationNo (confirmed to us by Spring Design)UnknownNoYes
Connector typeMicroUSBMicroUSBMicroUSB<-
Battery capacity3.7V 1530mAh (confirmed to us by Spring Design)Unknown1530mAh<-
Battery life14 days with wireless off,
6 hours with LCD screen on		10 days with wireless off7 days with wireless on,
14 days with wireless off		<-
User replaceable batteryYesYesNo<-
Book selectionBorders via Kobo, Google Books,
any protected ePub book from any bookseller		Barnes & Noble - 1,000,000+ paid and 500,000+ free books, newspapers and magazinesAmazon - 450,000+ post-1923 and 1,800,000+ pre-1923 books at the time of this review<-
Synchronized last page read between devicesNo but promised laterNo but promised in early 2010Yes<-
Operating systemAndroid 1.5 (2.0+ coming summer 2010)Android 1.5Linux<-
OTA (Over-The-Air) software updatesYes (confirmed to us by Spring Design)YesYes<-
Size8.9" x 4.7" x 0.4"7.7" x 4.9" x 0.5"8.0" x 5.3" x 0.36"10.4" x 7.2" x 0.38"
Weight11 oz12.1 oz10.2 oz18.9 oz
Price$399$259$259.00$489.00
Buy itBuy ItBuy ItBuy ItBuy It
 

Alex eReader

Barnes & Noble Nook

Amazon Kindle 2

Amazon Kindle DX

 

So, who is the winner?

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eReader Mega Roundup: Spring Design Alex VS Barnes & Noble Nook VS Amazon Kindle 2 VS Kindle DX - Detailed Comparison was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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