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Does anyone know when Barnes and Noble will drop the official Froyo update for the Nook Color? Back in December every tech site was saying it was due in January, but that obviously did not happen. I am trying to decide whether to root mine now or wait for the official OS update before I start messing with my NC. Thanks
brendan6q66 said:
Does anyone know when Barnes and Noble will drop the official Froyo update for the Nook Color? Back in December every tech site was saying it was due in January, but that obviously did not happen. I am trying to decide whether to root mine now or wait for the official OS update before I start messing with my NC. Thanks
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I wouldnt ever expect it officially. Most of these rumors started with nameless sources, and employee talk. They also made the claim that we would have the appstore but we know how that went. As many have stated, the nook is an E-Reader first. It doesn't need anything past what it has now, to do what its designed to do.
I still think B&N is working on their app store. It's an opportunity to make more money. How long it will take to get released, who knows.
Ultimately I think it depends on what you're looking for in the software. Even if B&N updates it to 2.2 it won't be the same look and feel you get on other android devices. I don't think it's going to happen that they release a software update that upgrades this thing from an e-reader to a tablet pc. The talks are they'll incorporate some customized market for software in an update, so maybe we get the android market, but probably just some bastardized form of it. I think if you want a true tablet experience with the NC, you'll never get that without rooting it. Don't think of it as a Froyo update, but rather a NC update, if it comes from B&N. Just the same e-reader with a different foundation.
there is no consequences of rooting your nook. you can always flash your nook back to stock. thay being said i would suggest you try nookie froyo. even if froyo DOES come out from B&N there is no gurantee it will give the full tablet experience that AOSP froyo does.
I realize the update was never intended to bring the full 2.2 experience to the NC, but i had heard that it would offer more or less the homescreen experience along with a curated B&N app store. I just think this thing has so much more potential then B&N is currently offering on it. I think it is in dire need of more basic stock apps such as email, a calendar, calculator, etc. I bring my NC with me everywhere... classes, on the subway. I think the addition of these apps would make it a complete device rather than just an e-reader. And it is not just an ereader... that designation went out the window the second it got that beautiful color display. Also, I think 3rd party apps like dropbox, instapaper, and an rss reader that syncs to google reader would be amazing on the NC. I realize I can get all of this by rooting, but I would feel much more comfortable if they were eventually offered by B&N
brendan6q66 said:
I realize the update was never intended to bring the full 2.2 experience to the NC, but i had heard that it would offer more or less the homescreen experience along with a curated B&N app store. I just think this thing has so much more potential then B&N is currently offering on it. I think it is in dire need of more basic stock apps such as email, a calendar, calculator, etc. I bring my NC with me everywhere... classes, on the subway. I think the addition of these apps would make it a complete device rather than just an e-reader. And it is not just an ereader... that designation went out the window the second it got that beautiful color display. Also, I think 3rd party apps like dropbox, instapaper, and an rss reader that syncs to google reader would be amazing on the NC. I realize I can get all of this by rooting, but I would feel much more comfortable if they were eventually offered by B&N
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Look, if I burn the desk I'm sitting at and I find that it burns well, that doesn't mean the company that makes it actually makes firewood. If by "complete device" you mean a tablet pc, then B&N could have released it as such when it first came out. But what you're refusing to acknowledge is that this thing wasn't created for that, however capable it may be. At this point all I've heard is we may get some form of a software market, which doesn't need a kernel update from 2.1 to 2.2, so even with that, we may not get an android update. Like I said, just stop thinking that, because this can be an effective tablet, B&N will go out of their way to make it one. For that matter, you shouldn't expect it to have the look of an android device any more than it currently does. It seems to me that B&N would be pretty particular about the appearance of their software.
Listen, just wait it out if you don't want to root the thing. Maybe they will give us a decent app list, and maybe it won't take forever and a day to get to us. But don't expect them to offer any software from a competitor, or book/magazine/newspaper reading software that doesn't require you get the material from them.
At the end of the day, BN would be insane to release a full fledged version of the market onto the NC. The absolute last thing they want is Amazon, Borders and others competing with them on their own platform. I think we will see a market of some sort released down the road. When I don't know, but I'd be surprised if we never see one. BN intends for this thing to just be an e-reader. They don't want people to buy it and use it as a tablet. They want it to be an e-reader because it's then basically tied to their store for content. That is what they want.
Second Tuesday in the first week of June
March 7th. Note no year specified.
February 31st
How would we know?
Nobody knows. Just speculation and guesses out there.
"When it's ready."
That's the only answer I would actually believe, and even then I'm not inclined to accept it as truth.
What if they are planning to go straight to HoneyComb?
Holy ****! It never ends
V.A.T.Juice said:
What if they are planning to go straight to HoneyComb?
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In what ways will Honeycomb make the NC a better ereader for B&N-purchased ebooks?
The only reason I believe they would even go to an underlying 2.2 is for Flash. I could imagine them coming out with some very cool eReader applications for it such as in-magazine videos and other book/magazine related media features like that. It's a very capable little device and I positively love mine, but I feel like there are many people buying it as a $250 Galaxy Tab competitor, and it's simply not. The community here is great and tons of people are doing absolutely outstanding work unlocking a wealth of potential, but at the end of the day we will never get fully featured android support from B&N and it would be silly to expect it.
miemens said:
The only reason I believe they would even go to an underlying 2.2 is for Flash. I could imagine them coming out with some very cool eReader applications for it such as in-magazine videos and other book/magazine related media features like that. It's a very capable little device and I positively love mine, but I feel like there are many people buying it as a $250 Galaxy Tab competitor, and it's simply not. The community here is great and tons of people are doing absolutely outstanding work unlocking a wealth of potential, but at the end of the day we will never get fully featured android support from B&N and it would be silly to expect it.
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Exactly right, it won't be supported as a tablet. If/when someone cooks up a rom for this thing based on honeycomb, it'll be the same as autonooter and nookie froyo now. What I mean is we'll get a device that reports itself as some other device, the xoom or some other thing, just so the market has an idea of what apps we should have available. But they'll have such higher powered tablets with better cpu's and more ram, better screens, and they'll have nifty docks and bluetooth attachments, and we'll be luck if someone just gets our bluetooth runnning smoothly.
Once they get the textbook thing straightened out, do you think they might need flash for streaming classes? I know some unis have classes where you can either attend virtually or at least replay lectures.
Homer
The official SDK for Android 3.0 has been out there for a day or two (cf Android developers website)
And still no port of this release on the NC
Can't wait for the HC v05 image for NC !
SDK only helps you develop apps, they need the asop code to better port hc.
sent from nookcolor
Source needs to be dropped for us to have better builds.
So by Google's open source platform is open source when the first consumer product gets sold right so when the zoom comes out look for it then
I can't wait til we have a fully ported version of HC, it will be awesome. I never expected to have it on the NC when I bought it. I wanted something inexpensive that I could root and use for web browsing, gmail, google voice, running flash, and playing a few games. I didn't think it would ever be running HC and I was ok with that. Everyone has done an amazing job and there is much more to come. This Nook is a cool device for sure.
check out the article in businessweek.com/technology/ regarding honeycomb source (sorry, not enough posts to add links to my thread)
looks like we're waiting awhile for a full-scale port of HC
Wow... what a load of crap. I am giving you the biggest middle finger i can right now Google......
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2011/tc20110324_269784.htm
well this just blows!
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
This actually kind of makes sense. By not releasing the code, Google can control what kinds of devices actually run Honeycomb. Look at how many extremely crappy Froyo tablets there are out there from hole in the wall manufacturers. The hardware is crap. Performance is crap. The reliability is crap. It makes Android look horrible. If Honeycombs source got released today, you'd see crappy $100 tablets in Wal-greens running Honeycomb. They would suck huge monkey balls and make Honeycomb look horrible. People would buy the $100 iPad alternative, find that it was a POS, return it and never buy an Android device again.
I wish they would have released it though and done something else. Like maybe not allow any maker to use the "Android" name in advertising unless it met their requirements? Similar to what they do with the "With Google" on the back of phones.
Heck they could take it a step further and only allow phone manufacturers to produce pure Google Experience phones instead of wrapping it up with their own skin.
And this is why Richard Stallman is always, always, always right.
yeah this blows, a lot. Engadget has a good article too.
This is not going to help Android gain more market share. The money hats are sure working on Google.
cadium said:
I wish they would have released it though and done something else. Like maybe not allow any maker to use the "Android" name in advertising unless it met their requirements? Similar to what they do with the "With Google" on the back of phones.
Heck they could take it a step further and only allow phone manufacturers to produce pure Google Experience phones instead of wrapping it up with their own skin.
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How can you have open source, but still tell OEMS what they can and can't do?
A. Nonymous said:
How can you have open source, but still tell OEMS what they can and can't do?
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By doing exactly what he said in his post. Not allow them to use the android name. Also, don't allow them access to the market and other google apps. They can't force OEMS to do anything, but they can give them incentives. I think them restricting the android name to google experience devices would be excellent. Ubunutu is based on Debian Linux, but you don't see them calling it Debian anywhere. In fact, if you didn't look it up, you would have no idea that Ubuntu even had anything to do with Debian. It's very similar, but it's been modified and is therefore no longer called Debian, just like sense, motoblur, touch-wiz and others should not be called android.
They already do that though. The $100 tablet you can buy at Walgreens doesn't have the Google name on it. Doesn't have the market or google apps. Still makes Android look bad. Besides, not giving them the Android name would be great for OEMs. They would drop it all together, call it HTC Sense OS or MotoBlur OS or whatever and the consumers would then be extremely confused.
I was upset about this at first, but it makes perfect sense. Like people have said, it makes Android look like crap. IMHO, Honeycomb is an embarrassment as far as polish when it comes to iOS. Get me right, I'm an Android fan through and through, but lacking polish and stability can really hurt Android right now. I'm sure we'll get the source eventually while it's still relevant. Remember, the first commercial device running that software is barley a month old...
I see a final SDK Honeycomb build in our future.
i assume we will never see a 3.0 aosp at all. it isnt meant for phones and i think google initally wanted to branch off but decided against that. and from seeing our development they have realized that >3.0 is bad for tablets and 3.0 is bad for phones. they know we will try to do it anyway and just discover that the other half (phones or tablets depending on version) is very inadequate so they plan on making ice cream the version of android that works on both
still sad that they wont even let us try to get it working, hell the preview release is running pretty well already, this " we decide what is good for you " stance is worrying from an open source os
By "indefinitely" I understand the exact release date is not definite. Thats all. Android >>>>>>>> iOS
Pretty terrible news. Really puts a mark on future android releases for the community. Really sad even if there are business reasons for it.
You can't have your cake and eat it too. They're either open source or not. They can't try to have it both ways.
xdabr said:
And this is why Richard Stallman is always, always, always right.
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Yep. I can't tell you how many times I've rolled my eyes at something he's said and considered it to be extreme but it's true.
They are probably just working on making it stable...
Remember, google is the forerunner for open source.
chrome(based off chomrium open source)
chome os( based off chomrium open source)
android(obviously linux)
Definitely disappointing. Would love to see my Nook Color running Honeycomb AOSP.
I don't buy their reasoning. I don't see why anyone would go rushing to put Honeycomb on a phone??? If anything it's all these cheap tablets running pre 3.0 that is making Android look bad.
This is pathetic!!!! So much for it being "Open Source"!!!
It's probably full of stolen code or something.
veeeee said:
Definitely disappointing. Would love to see my Nook Color running Honeycomb AOSP.
I don't buy their reasoning. I don't see why anyone would go rushing to put Honeycomb on a phone??? If anything it's all these cheap tablets running pre 3.0 that is making Android look bad.
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That's the point. Google is trying to avoid cheap tablets running Honeycomb. Let's be completely honest here. In terms of polish, iOS is a better OS than Honeycomb. That's to be expected given that Honeycomb is a first-gen tablet OS. Google is pushing it as it's answer to iOS though. They don't want it plastered on crappy ass tablets that barely run and definitely don't want it on phones that won't run it well at all. It would make Honeycomb look awful even though it's a very nice OS if it's run on a device that can actually run it.
Has everybody noticed how this has slipped thru the cracks with all the distraction of Google I/O 2011 news?
Google I/O Google has said that the next version of Android, dubbed "Ice Cream Sandwich", will be open sourced "by the end of the year," and that it will not open source the current Android incarnation, the tablet-centric Honeycomb, before that time.
Source:
UU UU UU dot theregister.co.uk/2011/05/10/android_ice_cream_sandwich/
Andy Rubin has backtracked on making the Honeycomb source available until after it is no longer relevant (if even then). There is no promise any more of EVER getting the Honeycomb source, so it looks like the best we'll be able to do is SDK11 unless B&N updates stock to Honeycomb (don't hold your breath).
I wouldn't say Honeycomb will no longer be relevant after ICS. After all, ICS is a smart phone OS, whereas HC is designed for tablets. What I'm getting from this is that ICS is basically going to be the smartphone version of HC. Google has stated that they don't want people porting HC to smartphones. By delaying the release of source for HC until after ICS hits the shelves, Google is trying to forestall the translation of HC to phones by waiting to release HC code until it no longer makes sense to do so (beacuse there'll be no point in doing so).
dsf3g said:
I wouldn't say Honeycomb will no longer be relevant after ICS. After all, ICS is a smart phone OS, whereas HC is designed for tablets. What I'm getting from this is that ICS is basically going to be the smartphone version of HC. Google has stated that they don't want people porting HC to smartphones. By delaying the release of source for HC until after ICS hits the shelves, Google is trying to forestall the translation of HC to phones by waiting to release HC code until it no longer makes sense to do so (beacuse there'll be no point in doing so).
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Actually, from the presentation, ICS is just as much for tablets, since the UI is supposed to scale based on the device.
However, they keep saying ICS for quarter 4, which is half a year away. Frankly, i am pissed that they yanked devs around for so long HOPING we might see the code, when in reality, i have no doubt they held it back solely on the request of Moto and others, to help maintain a monopoly on HC market..
Other media reports are characterizing the discussion as Rubin saying that they will never release the Honeycomb AOSP. Yet another reason to ignore the Xoom, et al. tablets if they're going to pull this bull****.
Brilliant plan -- release a closed buggy version, refuse the community to do de-bugging work for free and then hope that it will be magically fixed by merging with the OS that originally was thought to not be up to snuff.
Google thinks that they can "merge" Honeycomb back into Ice Cream Sandwich (after they "get it right").
What I want to know is, how is Andy Rubin justifying withholding the source of an "open source" OS? And what is to keep him from doing the same thing again next year with ICS?
There are more comments over in the developer thread on this subject. I started this one first, but I don't have enough posts to start one over there (grumble, grumble). I'm slowly getting closer to being able to post there though (grin).
One school of thought over there is that the Honeycomb AOSP is a hacked up kludge "not ready for primetime" and that's why Google doesn't want it out.
While that is very likely true and (and will probably continue to be true now that 3.1 is released), that is no justification for opposing "opening" the source.
Since I expect the kludges will be "grandfathered" throughout future releases, I don't expect to ever see HC AOSP. I could be wrong, but it really doesn't matter because ICS will be out by then and everybody will be wanting to port to it.
What I'm concerned with is the "promise" of ICS being released in a timely fashion. Mr. Rubin has made earlier "promises" that have later been rescinded. I don't think he EVER wanted HC released and was just trying to "buy time" until Google I/O 2011 so that he could take the heat off with the announcement of ICS.
I hope I'm wrong, but ... fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice....
Divine_Madcat said:
However, they keep saying ICS for quarter 4, which is half a year away.
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Fiscal, or calendar? Because fiscal Q4 is July-September.
zombieflanders said:
Fiscal, or calendar? Because fiscal Q4 is July-September.
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Technically, i don't think they have said, but i have never seen any other Google release announcement refer to a fiscal quarter instead of the calendar. I would love for it to be fiscal, but that is a real pipe dream.
DM -
Tell them over in the other thread that Andy Rubin's quote was in a Q&A w/press after his keynote.
DiDGR8 said:
DM -
Tell them over in the other thread that Andy Rubin's quote was in a Q&A w/press after his keynote.
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Consider it done.
Divine_Madcat said:
Consider it done.
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Thanks (just one more post and I can get into Dev!!)
I have a cousin who works with B&N, and he says that they are rushing to get the 3.0 kernel on the NC to accompany their locked-down skin. He says that there are some incompatabiliies, but that they have made progress. What are your thoughts? Is he crazy? Are we ever going to get a proper ICS OTA?
If B&N drops 3.0 kernel source for the Nook Color, the devs here will be quite happy because the current old kernel is the major impediment to ICS on Nook Color.
You sure they aren't doing this just for the Nook Tablet?
3.x is honey comb, not ICS. They'll prolly skip that all-together.
gallahad2000 said:
3.x is honey comb, not ICS. They'll prolly skip that all-together.
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Talking about the linux kernel.
It makes little sense to me for them to update the core Android OS and Linux kernel if their reader, custom apps, and the apps in their store work fine with Froyo. But if they're going to keep selling the NC as the budget media tablet model for a while longer then a more up-to-date Android version makes sense in avoiding any possible compatibility issues down the road that could prevent them from seamlessly bringing the latest and best versions of Android apps across to the B&N market. Their separate B&N market wouldn't be very sustainable or a good selling feature if they had to only offer older versions and/or ask developers to add backporting compatability fixes for a two year old version of Android. Then again, that's just a lot of speculating on my part
I don't have hope for that, in fact, I doubt it.
They just released v.1.4.1 and it still is Froyo, I don't think they implement ICS for NC.
I could actually see them doing this just so that it will be easier for devs to convert their already tablet friendly ICS apps for the BN market.
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Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk
I would think they would like to keep the operating environment the same across units (if possible). This will cause less customer confusion/dissatisfaction and fewer support issues. Apple IOS is a good example of this IMO.
gmanvbva said:
I would think they would like to keep the operating environment the same across units (if possible). This will cause less customer confusion/dissatisfaction and fewer support issues. Apple IOS is a good example of this IMO.
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Apple allows old devices to upgrade to newer iOS versions (my gf's 3g is running iOS 5). They just cripple the features they don't want those devices to have (siri, folders, etc). Apple's relative lack of issues comes from controlling the hardware (no powerVR, tegra, qualcomm incompatibilities, short driver list), OS (no carrier or manufacturer modifications) and app store (too many bugs and your app is gone).
I doubt B&N would drop the full functionality of ICS on their customers (especially when they've fenced them in from froyo). ICS would open the door to tablet-centric apps which would help them compete with Amazon. It will most definitely come to the Tablet but I wouldn't expect it to come to the Color (since they need to differentiate the models to justify the price difference).
Would be great if they did release it, but lets face the truth, its unlikely.
If you guys want ICS your best bet is buying dalingrin and / or fattire a beer.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
MrColdbird said:
Would be great if they did release it, but lets face the truth, its unlikely.
If you guys want ICS your best bet is buying dalingrin and / or fattire a beer.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
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Maybe true, but if this works it would certainly give dalingrin and fattire some help with the issues they're having, not to mention speed up the entire process.
Limvot said:
Maybe true, but if this works it would certainly give dalingrin and fattire some help with the issues they're having, not to mention speed up the entire process.
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If what works? I'd love to have official ICS on my NC, but as others have said, they're still using a fluffy coating on Froyo. No GB and no HC means ICS is highly unlikely.
Now what would be very nice would be an updated kernel, as well as some direct contact with B&N techs about drivers for the chipset and other hardware. But I find that to be unlikely.
The newer Nook Tablet is based on Gingerbread, isn't it? Perhaps they're working on this first and foremost to crank out a third future device that supports APIs from ICS such as fragments. The updated code would then trickle down to Nook Tablet and possibly eventually NC.
Sent from my Nook Color!
zombieflanders said:
If what works? I'd love to have official ICS on my NC, but as others have said, they're still using a fluffy coating on Froyo. No GB and no HC means ICS is highly unlikely.
Now what would be very nice would be an updated kernel, as well as some direct contact with B&N techs about drivers for the chipset and other hardware. But I find that to be unlikely.
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No HC doesn't mean anything as it was not open source... This is not completely unthinkable. Remember the NC was on 2.1 before the 1.2 release where they upped it to 2.2.
Sent from space
votinh said:
I don't have hope for that, in fact, I doubt it.
They just released v.1.4.1 and it still is Froyo, I don't think they implement ICS for NC.
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Of course, 1.4.1 came out just before ICS source was released, so maybe B&N figured they do a quick patch of the existing ROM, rather than go through all the work to do a rebuild on GB and then to ICS...
any news/rumors about this?
speedfreak007 said:
any news/rumors about this?
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Other than slow but steady progress on the CM9 build (and no new releases for now), no.
traumadog said:
Of course, 1.4.1 came out just before ICS source was released, so maybe B&N figured they do a quick patch of the existing ROM, rather than go through all the work to do a rebuild on GB and then to ICS...
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You have more faith in the B&N corporate staff than I do, but your optimism may be warranted, given that the NT doesn't seem to be totally ignored by the press in the same way the NC was.
zombieflanders said:
... You have more faith in the B&N corporate staff than I do, but your optimism may be warranted, given that the NT doesn't seem to be totally ignored by the press in the same way the NC was.
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I wonder how much other integration B&N is looking for with other content providers to match what Amazon is doing. I would think upgrading to ICS would make some business sense, in that with a fresher underlying OS, you might be able to keep app developers in the fold working on the NT.
cmstlist said:
The newer Nook Tablet is based on Gingerbread, isn't it? Perhaps they're working on this first and foremost to crank out a third future device that supports APIs from ICS such as fragments. The updated code would then trickle down to Nook Tablet and possibly eventually NC.
Sent from my Nook Color!
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From what I understand... The new Nook Tablet has a locked bootloader, more or less precluding it from easy rom replacement.
Though, perhaps I have been misinformed.
Yoinx said:
From what I understand... The new Nook Tablet has a locked bootloader, more or less precluding it from easy rom replacement.
Though, perhaps I have been misinformed.
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Difficult if not impossible for 3rd parties providing roms but not for B&N. They have the security keys allowing them to provide whatever rom they choose within the hardware limits.