Database Develop

[Video]Froyo on nook color

WHO DID THIS??? and why isnt it here!!?
probably doesnt belong in dev section but this needs attention
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uviopU8Ve-Y

wtf! I just got my nook color and was expecting to wait quite a while for a custom rom, but damn things are moving fast. Who did that? How? And why does no one here know about it?

Whoa. We have seen the future of the NC...and it shines! Now, how to get whoever did this on this board...

bobdude5 said:
WHO DID THIS??? and why isnt it here!!?
probably doesnt belong in dev section but this needs attention
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uviopU8Ve-Y
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. But I don't want to lose the original nookColor features as I bought the NC as an ereader primarily and I already have purchased books and magazines on the device. (And no, the nook android app isn't suitable as it doesn't have all the features of the NC such as magazines)

dark79 said:
Interesting. But I don't want to lose the original nookColor features as I bought the NC as an ereader primarily and I already have purchased books and magazines on the device. (And no, the nook android app isn't suitable as it doesn't have all the features of the NC such as magazines)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so I guess this doesn't apply to you then, right?
I, on the other hand, am very excited. Hopefully we can get the details of this soon. There was no proof that the android marketplace was functioning in the froyo build though, but I hope it is.

dark79 said:
Interesting. But I don't want to lose the original nookColor features as I bought the NC as an ereader primarily and I already have purchased books and magazines on the device. (And no, the nook android app isn't suitable as it doesn't have all the features of the NC such as magazines)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a step in a nice direction. Get the stock OS up and running and then figure out what's needed to perform upgrades to the Nook platform itself. If it is possible to upgrade the unit to Froyo that means that Bluetooth Keyboards should work and a number of other things. I would prefer not to lose the actual Nook look/feel of the device but I'm not going to ignore what is overall a positive step forward for the evolution of this device.
I'm really hoping the details on the WiFi controller chip were accurate, because the touch keyboard on this thing is REALLY getting annoying.

deeoh said:
Ok, so I guess this doesn't apply to you then, right?
I, on the other hand, am very excited. Hopefully we can get the details of this soon. There was no proof that the android marketplace was functioning in the froyo build though, but I hope it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it still applies to me.
The BNN apps run over android 2.1. My point is that I'm hoping someone can pull the BNN apps to work OVER froyo so that I can still have the best of both worlds.
Shouldn't be too hard. After all, BNN already said they're releasing a froyo update early next year (rumors being January).

one question that comes to my mind that doesnt come up in the video, since the nook only has like 4 hardware buttons how do you control your back, home and menu controls? unless you Remap the volume buttons to do it

thoughtlesskyle said:
one question that comes to my mind that doesnt come up in the video, since the nook only has like 4 hardware buttons how do you control your back, home and menu controls? unless you Remap the volume buttons to do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why you would use the SoftKeys APK that someone else on here has worked so diligently on. That way, the bottom bar of the nook becomes like a perma-softkey bar, that way you can pick between using the volume keys or the softkeys.
Anybody managed to talk to the guy who put up the video? Would love to know how he got that running, especially with Flash 10.1 on 2.2
EDIT: Here's the Softkey.APK and the thread I'm talking about: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=860153&page=2

It's too bad that whomever did this didn't focus their camera very well.

Martimus said:
It's too bad that whomever did this didn't focus their camera very well.
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Click to collapse
Agreed - you can only barely make out the 2.2.1. Wonder if it's real or a fake...

I saw some benchmarks of 2.1 vs 2.2 measured using linpack. 2.1 was about 7 while 2.2 was 30-40.
Will the nook enjoy this speed increase? Meaning because the nook is a little more lacking hardware wise, I'm wondering if this speed boost would be more noticeable on the nook (e..g smoothing scrolling, more responsive, etc)
Or is the graphics chip more responsible for these things?

sark666 said:
I saw some benchmarks of 2.1 vs 2.2 measured using linpack. 2.1 was about 7 while 2.2 was 30-40.
Will the nook enjoy this speed increase? Meaning because the nook is a little more lacking hardware wise, I'm wondering if this speed boost would be more noticeable on the nook (e..g smoothing scrolling, more responsive, etc)
Or is the graphics chip more responsible for these things?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The nook's hardware is actually quite capable and with a proper clean froyo build, it should fly. The stock B&N build is garbage as far as optimizations and performance go. We have a cortex A8 (TI OMAP 3621) with a powerVR SGX 530, that should be plenty to have a nice android experience.
I'm sure linpack scores will improve with 2.2, but it seems snapdragon based devices get the best gains on linpack from going 2.1 to 2.2.

Good to hear it's a capable piece of hardware.
This will be my first android device so I'll read more about rooting etc. But once say a froyo 2.2 is out, can you retain the b&n software somehow, or is it one or the other?
I've heard some of the apps/functionality it provides is good. I'm more interested in this as a cheap first tablet so with a choice for one or the other, I'd wipe it and put froyo on it, but I was curious if even their apps can be brought over, if a side by side (dual boot?) install isn't possible. Or maybe off the sd card...
Off topic, but is there anything to manage multiple users? I can see my gf wanting to use it, and I'd rather not have her bookmarks files etc in mine.
I get the vibe all these devices are made for one user, but I've read posts about say a parent wanting to let their kid play with the device without concern they'd change anything.

sark666 said:
Good to hear it's a capable piece of hardware.
This will be my first android device so I'll read more about rooting etc. But once say a froyo 2.2 is out, can you retain the b&n software somehow, or is it one or the other?
I've heard some of the apps/functionality it provides is good. I'm more interested in this as a cheap first tablet so with a choice for one or the other, I'd wipe it and put froyo on it, but I was curious if even their apps can be brought over, if a side by side (dual boot?) install isn't possible. Or maybe off the sd card...
Off topic, but is there anything to manage multiple users? I can see my gf wanting to use it, and I'd rather not have her bookmarks files etc in mine.
I get the vibe all these devices are made for one user, but I've read posts about say a parent wanting to let their kid play with the device without concern they'd change anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if the root method is the same as we have done before, yes we will be able to do it, basically a custom recovery will be created which will allow nand (internal memory) to be backedup and restored

yea, the stock B&N software is pretty poorly optimized but it's got good management and reading features (shelves, different colors and margin settings, social networking for quotes etc...), much better than the Nook app on Android and most other reader apps, the store works pretty well and it does B&N magazines and kid books. Some of the non-readers out there might not notice the difference, but it's there.

sadly i dont think B&N understand the idea of optimization i got almost twice the performance on my original nook last year just by optimizing the .apks with zipalign and optiPNG havnt had a chance to test it on the NC because well im lazy and too busy actually using it

dark79 said:
Interesting. But I don't want to lose the original nookColor features as I bought the NC as an ereader primarily and I already have purchased books and magazines on the device. (And no, the nook android app isn't suitable as it doesn't have all the features of the NC such as magazines)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too, I use it as a reader and media player next.
But I'm paying close attention to what this device can do...

Nook color: worst of all worlds?

Came across a funny older article on a fruit based website about the nook color when it first came out. After reading it i couldnt help but chuckle.
This was the best part of it,
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol
Its a good read for a laugh.
I know that my nook color countinues to amaze me with more and more functionality everyday.
Its amazing what xda devs can accomplish. Take something and make it do something it was never meant to do and do it better than its competition.

That article is an unfortunate example of what a lot of tech journalists are doing these days. Hastily research a new product, then clip together a bunch of other coverage and bang out an article. By demonstrating his technical incompetence, sure he's got egg on his face now after the fact, however he also represents a large (the majority) percentage of B&N's customer base. The average purchaser would says "rooting what now?".
Amazingly, the NC has proven wildly popular and B&N's top selling item EVER, so obviously even with the limitations the author describes it's trouncing the competition. For those of use who know about ADB and scripts/img files, hey it's even better. Bought one for myself, then for my Dad (50's, tech savvy still). I rooted it, installed xeam and some apps then wrapped it back up and bang, best Christmas present ever!)

I've had a book 3g and then the NC which i rooted. Bottom line it rocks!!!!
Sent from my NOOTED NC using XDA App

I cannot wait for a fully functional froyo rom for the internal memory that will make this a true tablet
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

sp1kez said:
I cannot wait for a fully functional froyo rom for the internal memory that will make this a true tablet
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forgot Froyo. Gingerbread CM7. It's going to be B-E-A-UTIFUL

nicbennett said:
Forgot Froyo. Gingerbread CM7. It's going to be B-E-A-UTIFUL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Name 5 things that Gingerbread does better than Froyo....
Anywho, I too look forward to a tablet-friendly custom ROM.. I still really like the status bar on the bottom of the screen, but the stupid B&N shortcut thing gets on my nerves when I'm typing.

khaytsus said:
Name 5 things that Gingerbread does better than Froyo....
Anywho, I too look forward to a tablet-friendly custom ROM.. I still really like the status bar on the bottom of the screen, but the stupid B&N shortcut thing gets on my nerves when I'm typing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean aside from the better Dalvik VM, better battery management, improved UI, improved hardware capabilities (improved camera handling, gyroscope, NFC), improved game API, improved audio API, new media (audio/video) support, and a new linux base kernel? I guess if you don't count those, you still have the new/updated core libraries, updated bluetooth stack, improved text selection, built-in VOIP, and of course, the better keyboard...
Seriously, i mean, really seriously, why would ANYONE have anything against getting the NEWEST OS? All our efforts should be on gingerbread, since it offers the most compared to Froyo. Its not like moving to GB has any shortcomings, so why NOT want it?

I just got my nook color last night - I've found BBuy that had it in stock about 50 miles and drove there - sure enough about 20 were on the shelve - forgot to mention I traveled actually from one state to another (about 50 miles) to get it right of the shelve ... so anyhow, I am happy with "locked" nook color has to offer - I am even more thrilled about rooting it soon and unlocking the full potential. NC here I come

Yeah, a lot of the reviews bemoaned its alleged "doesn't know what it is" status. I've rooted mine, OC'd it, isntalled dozens of apps and games. Yet I still use it primarily to read novels, and do some light web browsing. And for that, it's dead perfect.
In other words, even an unrooted NC is an outstanding gizmo. I mean that screen is just to die for.

I definitely love my Nook. People are always surprised when I tell them it was only $250. Froyo on teh emmc via dd ftw! It's much better than the stock OS.

rjsmith2007 said:
I definitely love my Nook. People are always surprised when I tell them it was only $250. Froyo on teh emmc via dd ftw! It's much better than the stock OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IN regards to emmc Froyo - what about the lag? I guess it may just be my SD card, but every Froyo build i have tried, has been painfully laggy - not slow, but things like gmail can take 1-2 minutes to actually show the mail. The app drawer animations are also oddly slow. Does emmc really make Froyo more usable for you?

Divine_Madcat said:
IN regards to emmc Froyo - what about the lag? I guess it may just be my SD card, but every Froyo build i have tried, has been painfully laggy - not slow, but things like gmail can take 1-2 minutes to actually show the mail. The app drawer animations are also oddly slow. Does emmc really make Froyo more usable for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh GOD yes. There is no lag on eMMC. Typing this comment to you on my Froyo'd NC right now

Divine_Madcat said:
You mean aside from the better Dalvik VM, better battery management, improved UI, improved hardware capabilities (improved camera handling, gyroscope, NFC), improved game API, improved audio API, new media (audio/video) support, and a new linux base kernel? I guess if you don't count those, you still have the new/updated core libraries, updated bluetooth stack, improved text selection, built-in VOIP, and of course, the better keyboard...
Seriously, i mean, really seriously, why would ANYONE have anything against getting the NEWEST OS? All our efforts should be on gingerbread, since it offers the most compared to Froyo. Its not like moving to GB has any shortcomings, so why NOT want it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I agree that Gingerbread has small incremental improvements, but nothing that'd cause me to say screw Froyo, wait for Gingerbread. Especially if Gingerbread on the NC is well off.

khaytsus said:
No, I agree that Gingerbread has small incremental improvements, but nothing that'd cause me to say screw Froyo, wait for Gingerbread. Especially if Gingerbread on the NC is well off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess what i am thinking - given that Gingerbread is already being worked on, and our Froyo build doesn't actually work that well, why not just move ALL the resources out there to GB, and the most recent right away. Why go incrementally?

Divine_Madcat said:
I guess what i am thinking - given that Gingerbread is already being worked on, and our Froyo build doesn't actually work that well, why not just move ALL the resources out there to GB, and the most recent right away. Why go incrementally?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd agree with that.. If the effort is the same for both, go with Gingerbread. However so far we have Nookie Froyo which is "mostly" there and I haven't heard of Gingerbread on the NC at all.

Just to add how amazing this gadget is I'm typing this comment using SlideIT and it has taken mea fraction of what it used to.
Sent from my rooted Nook Color

khaytsus said:
I'd agree with that.. If the effort is the same for both, go with Gingerbread. However so far we have Nookie Froyo which is "mostly" there and I haven't heard of Gingerbread on the NC at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WEll, there is a gingerbread branch that is being worked on here: https://github.com/fat-tire/android_device_bn_encore
And there is plenty of talk that CM7 is on its way (though, i admit that i still fall into the see it to believe it camp). http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/11127-nook-color/page__st__40
But regardless, the froyo build really isn't that usable - its laggy, market is like sludge, etc. I really think that the devs working on it, should take the froyo lessons, and focus totally on GB. Let froyo be the sandbox for others to learn on, and let GB be the first real OS upgrade for the NC.

Now that the official 2.2 froyo update is available.....

What are the chances of getting the stock NC Launcher/App working in custom 2.2-2.3 roms?
I'm not @ home atm so I am unable to tinker with it myself for the time being.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/noo...ue Inc-_-k175726-_-j12871747k175726-_-Primary
Software Updates - Version 1.2.0
Barnes & Noble is providing a major firmware update for NOOK Color that contains exciting new features, addresses key customer requests and provides ongoing performance improvements. Among the enhancements, NOOK Color v1.2 now offering popular NOOK Apps�, NOOK Email�, an enhanced web experience, NOOK Kids� Read and Play� titles, enhanced NOOK Books, and more. The software update will be automatically downloaded to devices that are registered and connected to Wi-Fi�, beginning the week of April 25 and over the coming weeks. There�s no need for you to take any action. The software update is also available immediately via a manual download offered here. Please refer to the instructions below for the manual download. To check the current software version of your NOOK Color, please click here for additional instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

msgnyc said:
What are the chances of getting the stock NC Launcher/App working in custom 2.2-2.3 roms?
I'm not @ home atm so I am unable to tinker with it myself for the time being.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/noo...ue Inc-_-k175726-_-j12871747k175726-_-Primary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as good of a chance at getting Sense UI on any device that isn't HTC. Slim.

Why so slim a chance?
I see custom Sense Roms all of the time for HTC devices.
I'm not meaning getting the NC stock launcher/app onto other tablets, but into Custom Roms for the NC itself.

They hack up the framework for their custom launcher/apps. Without the source code to their launcher there is little hope for running that on AOSP builds.
Now someone can make a custom 2.2 rom (winzippers) like you see for HTC, but those are not AOSP based. They are also in an illegal grey area....
With the exception of magazines there are a lot of alternatives to the stock reader. I don't see what the obsession with the stock software is.

Read to me Kids books is another feature, much more so than magazines (IMO) that makes stock worth holding onto for some, like me, that have children and actually use NC for books.

I like the layout of the stock launcher.
The Magazines are a plus,
The storefront is better then the marketplace nook app and since I do have alot of B&N books It is nice being able to actually read them. Cant with 3rd party readers and the Nook App in the marketplace BLOWs. Especially if you've alot of side loaded books. No cover art for sideloaded books and the layout sux.
I also LOVE the fact that nomatter where I am or what I am doing, there is a page icon at the bottom of the screen that takes me directly back to were I left off in the book I am reading, Also shortcuts that take me directly to the B&N Store or my Library from where ever I am are always present. It is integrated extremely well.
[edited]^^ Read to Me Kids Books is pretty darn cool to. My nieces and nephews love it.

msgnyc said:
I like the layout of the stock launcher.
The Magazines are a plus,
The storefront is better then the marketplace nook app and since I do have alot of B&N books It is nice being able to actually read them. Cant with 3rd party readers and the Nook App in the marketplace BLOWs. Especially if you've alot of side loaded books. No cover art for sideloaded books and the layout sux.
I also LOVE the fact that nomatter where I am or what I am doing, there is a page icon at the bottom of the screen that takes me directly back to were I left off in the book I am reading, Also shortcuts that take me directly to the B&N Store or my Library from where ever I am are always present. It is integrated extremely well.
[edited]^^ Read to Me Kids Books is pretty darn cool to. My nieces and nephews love it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, the regular android nook app blows. It doesn't even have a built in dictionary.
Would be great if we could port the nook library/store to other roms.

I am very curious as to why everyone thinks that the new update will make it easier to pull out the custom nook application. As Nemith pointed out, the apps rely on heavily modded framework, which means you can't just grab the APK and go. Despite being a 2.2 upgrade, i don't expect any difference there; the custom launcher shows that they are still heavily changing the Android framework..
I think the bigger issue is the big divide in users. As a tablet user, one of the first things i was happy to get rid of, was B&N's horrific interface changes (notification bar, etc), via CM7 (and Froyo before that). The "Read to me" feature was neat, but certainly not worth keeping in light of the horrible UI. But that is me, since i do not want it as an eReader. I guess others are more ok with it..

Well, it would be "easier" to work on porting from 2.2 to 2.2/2.3 rather then it would be from 1.6-2.2/2.3 as a whole.
Not that it would necessarily be "easy"
I never really had an issue with the B&N interface myself. Well, after installing ADW that is.
That's just user preference. Not everyone likes/dislikes the same thing.
I don't mind my tablet interface being slightly different from my phones.

My plan is to run stock on the EMMC and CM7+ from SDcard. Just need to take the leap and get them to dual boot and share the same Sdcard partition.
Homer

Why not just dualboot your EMMC? The process takes no time whatsoever, and it will still run the updated stock without a problem. Flash to stock 1.1, upgrade to 1.2, prep dualboot, migrate stock 1.2 to second partition and install CM7 nightlies unmodified to the primary partition. Its what I do, and what I'm planning on doing when 1.2 is rooted. Seems senseless to me to boot off an SD when you can do it all internally
-Wheeled Wonder

nemith said:
With the exception of magazines there are a lot of alternatives to the stock reader. I don't see what the obsession with the stock software is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can only access the large library of "Nook Kids" color books using the stock reader. A few of the Kids titles will load on the B&N Nook app, but most will not as they are made specifically for the stock reader.
Once B&N releases their updated tablet reader app that is supposed to support Nook Kids books like the one for the iPad does, this won't be an issue anymore. So those of us that use the Nook Color (and Nook Kids books) to read to our kids, are stuck using the stock reader. My daughter LOVES the "Read-to-me" feature of Nook kids, and I would not be on her good side if i got rid of it just to run a custom ROM.
I dual boot Honeycomb on my MicroSD card, but the "Nootered" Stock ROM is what I use on a daily basis, as I use the stock reader a lot.

Does anyone know exactly what's changed in the magazine reading?

corruption42 said:
Why not just dualboot your EMMC? The process takes no time whatsoever, and it will still run the updated stock without a problem. Flash to stock 1.1, upgrade to 1.2, prep dualboot, migrate stock 1.2 to second partition and install CM7 nightlies unmodified to the primary partition. Its what I do, and what I'm planning on doing when 1.2 is rooted. Seems senseless to me to boot off an SD when you can do it all internally
-Wheeled Wonder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offence to those who duel book their NCs, but I see no point in it whatsoever.
I really dont want to have to continuously reboot my NC just to boot an alternate version of the same OS.
I would much rather have the one. I never have to turn off my NC as is. I rather have everything on the one OS rather then have to boot back and forth just to use what I have on one or the other. Takes no time whatsoever? That does indeed take time everytime you have to power down and reboot back and forth.
I'm just waiting for the official update to be rooted now. XD

Homer_S_xda said:
My plan is to run stock on the EMMC and CM7+ from SDcard. Just need to take the leap and get them to dual boot and share the same Sdcard partition.
Homer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I did with my modified SDcard install, base download and all the notes in;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1022786
Hopefully will save you some time...

To each their own -- I was simply providing another route of administration for someone who, unlike you, IS interested in dualbooting. Some of us have a point to it -- for example, I have magazine subscriptions held over from my original nook -- I like reading the things I paid for. Can't read them in the market version of the Nook app. That leaves me with one option: the stock install. However, it doesn't take care of my desire for a tablet operating system. CM7 does that perfectly. You know how long a reboot takes? 45 seconds. Its not the end of the world, and for those of us who DO have a purpose for it, it certainly isn't pointless.
Your comment, however, kinda was.
-Wheeled Wonder

So was your seeing as I said "I see no point in it"
Doesn't mean other people don't have a reason for it.
Thank you for your also pointless post.

msgnyc said:
Well, it would be "easier" to work on porting from 2.2 to 2.2/2.3 rather then it would be from 1.6-2.2/2.3 as a whole.
Not that it would necessarily be "easy"
I never really had an issue with the B&N interface myself. Well, after installing ADW that is.
That's just user preference. Not everyone likes/dislikes the same thing.
I don't mind my tablet interface being slightly different from my phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.6?? The nook by stock runs 2.1. And i still say that no, it doesn't really make it easier, since we don't have the source code to see what B&N really changed. Sure, we can keep trying to run it, and grab files are we find them, but then you are overwriting other files which isn't desirable. Realistically, the only way we are safely porting the apps, is if:
1) B&N's app stops relying on modded framework; everything is neatly tucked in the apk
2) We somehow got B&N's Froyo source code (which they are under no obligation to release) and see what is being used and how to put it in CM7 code.

Divine_Madcat said:
1.6?? The nook by stock runs 2.1. And i still say that no, it doesn't really make it easier, since we don't have the source code to see what B&N really changed. Sure, we can keep trying to run it, and grab files are we find them, but then you are overwriting other files which isn't desirable. Realistically, the only way we are safely porting the apps, is if:
1) B&N's app stops relying on modded framework; everything is neatly tucked in the apk
2) We somehow got B&N's Froyo source code (which they are under no obligation to release) and see what is being used and how to put it in CM7 code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bleh, my mistake on that one. lmao
I see where you are coming from. Still doesn't hurt to ask what the chance of it happening are. Know what I mean. Answers to questions are always a good thing.

msgnyc said:
So was your seeing as I said "I see no point in it"
Doesn't mean other people don't have a reason for it.
Thank you for your also pointless post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nein -- you see, my original post was constructive and provided an alternative option. Your post provided negativity and nothing to add to the conversation. Mine had a point
Either way, as long as we all own the most cost effective tablet on the market, its all gravy
-Wheeled Wonder

Which would you get?

Hello all. I am very interested in the Nook Color or the Samsung Galaxy Tab (Wifi). I just don't know which one to purchase. I do read a lot of books so I like the NC, but for a hundred extra dollars should I just get the Sammy Tab which has a faster processor? Basically, I was wondering if you guys would still be using the NC if you had the cash right now or would you have gone the other route? Thanks in advance and cheers.

tfotos said:
Hello all. I am very interested in the Nook Color or the Samsung Galaxy Tab (Wifi). I just don't know which one to purchase. I do read a lot of books so I like the NC, but for a hundred extra dollars should I just get the Sammy Tab which has a faster processor? Basically, I was wondering if you guys would still be using the NC if you had the cash right now or would you have gone the other route? Thanks in advance and cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you're talking $250 vs $350 basically. The Galaxy Tab will have nice features like camera, etc. You don't have to put a custom ROM on it, it is supposed to even get Honeycomb (offical) some time in the future I guess. However, if you are willing to spend $350 on a tablet, I would suggest you pony up another $50 and get the Asus Transformer.
That being said though, cost wise you can't beat the Nook for features and custom ROM support.

I hear ya. The one thing that keeps drawing me to the Nook Color (aside from its price) is the fact that I love using my e-ink Nook for reading. I like the fact that the primary purpose of the NC is for books. How is the operating system on the NC? I heard that it got froyo. Is there access to the android market or do you have to root/flash to use it like a tab? Are movies OK to watch on it? I have seen the Asus Transformer, but I think that it is kind of ugly. I know the hardware is a beast, but the bezel around it is kind of huge isn't it? Aesthetically I like how the NC and the Sammy Tab look, and I like the 7 inch size. I am thinking portability. Who knows though, I could always change my mind and get a 10 inch tablet.

tfotos said:
I hear ya. The one thing that keeps drawing me to the Nook Color (aside from its price) is the fact that I love using my e-ink Nook for reading. I like the fact that the primary purpose of the NC is for books. How is the operating system on the NC? I heard that it got froyo. Is there access to the android market or do you have to root/flash to use it like a tab? Are movies OK to watch on it? I have seen the Asus Transformer, but I think that it is kind of ugly. I know the hardware is a beast, but the bezel around it is kind of huge isn't it? Aesthetically I like how the NC and the Sammy Tab look, and I like the 7 inch size. I am thinking portability. Who knows though, I could always change my mind and get a 10 inch tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if you stick with the stock Nook software you only get access to the B&N appstore thing. I've heard it is pretty limited and the apps are more expensive than their Android Market and Amazon Appstore counterparts. I couldn't tell you much about it though. Within 5 minutes of my Nook charging up I installed the CM7 Gingerbread build on it and it works great! So I never played around with the 1.2 NC version of Android.
Also, the screen on the NC is LCD, not eInk, and while the resolution is nice, it still will cause more eye strain than eInk or paper. So you might not enjoy reading on it as much as you think! I find it comfortable though.
I still think you should stay away from the Galaxy Tab right now. It is sure to have some sales as soon as they release their new tablets (an 8.9" and a 10") which are faster, strong, meatier.
As for movies, I also don't know how the NC stock OS works with media. I'm using an app called MoboPlayer which seems to play just about every video format I have without an issue. Prior to that with the base CM7 (and I'm assuming stock NC) I could only play 1-2 formats...don't even remember which ones anymore. I hate converting video, so I found another solution right away.
I hope that helps, and honestly, for $200 (used) - $250 (new), you won't get better than the NC at this point in time.

There are 2 Nook Colors in my house.... One is rooted with original B&N 1.1 software, which gives you a stock E-reader with access to the Android Market. I find this setup to be a bit quirky for my liking (it's my wife's Nook). I've not tried playing video on this particular Nook, but the market & apps work fine. My Nook is rooted and running Cyanogen CM7.0.0 Gingerbread from internal memory and is overclocked to 1.2 GHz (from the standard Nook 800 MHz processor). It is very stable and video playback is excellent, however the Nook App from the Market is not as user friendly as the B & N version (not a big deal to me it still works for the amount of reading I do). I find the 7" size is perfect and I take my Nook EVERYWHERE with me. I get about 2 days between plug-ins with moderate use and it tethers perfectly with my phone. I don't believe I'd be so willing to carry it with me all of the time if it was any bigger though. I don't think I'd trade my Nook for anything shy of an Xoom which I believe is about $600 right now.

The wifi Galaxy Tab has the same GPU as the Nook Color, and the same CPU. Once you overclock the Nook Color CPU it can be equal or better.
It comes down to paying extra if you want built in cameras and a GPS.

Thanks to all for the great info. If I wanted to..could I run CM 7 from the sd card like they do for Honeycomb, thus keeping my NC stock for when I do want to use it for reading? I read a lot and love the original stock interface for my reading and shopping. I am headed out the door now and I am coming back with either the Sammy Tab or the Nook. I'm leaning heavily towards the Nook though.

tfotos said:
Thanks to all for the great info. If I wanted to..could I run CM 7 from the sd card like they do for Honeycomb, thus keeping my NC stock for when I do want to use it for reading? I read a lot and love the original stock interface for my reading and shopping. I am headed out the door now and I am coming back with either the Sammy Tab or the Nook. I'm leaning heavily towards the Nook though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can. However if you have no use for Nook Kids or Nook magazines, you can just install the nook android app and read books from it. Or you can use a bunch of other pdf, epub, doc readers.
The only benefit to stock is those two features. So up to you.

tfotos said:
Thanks to all for the great info. If I wanted to..could I run CM 7 from the sd card like they do for Honeycomb, thus keeping my NC stock for when I do want to use it for reading? I read a lot and love the original stock interface for my reading and shopping. I am headed out the door now and I am coming back with either the Sammy Tab or the Nook. I'm leaning heavily towards the Nook though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. You can run CM7 from the sd card and even run a rooted BN version on the internal memory for the best of both worlds.

I agree with previous posts...
in addition, I could say that the only things I really miss on my Nook (more then gps and camera) are the aptik feedback (vibrations, specially on the keyboard) and a microphone for voice recognition... instead I think that both things are on Galaxy tab (but I'm not sure)...
more then galaxy, you can have on Nook Color a great devs community here at xda! other then save 100$ ...

tfotos said:
Thanks to all for the great info. If I wanted to..could I run CM 7 from the sd card like they do for Honeycomb, thus keeping my NC stock for when I do want to use it for reading? I read a lot and love the original stock interface for my reading and shopping. I am headed out the door now and I am coming back with either the Sammy Tab or the Nook. I'm leaning heavily towards the Nook though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Better yet, you can split the internal drive partition, and allow for dual booting partitions on internal. That way, you can run stock on one partition, and CM7 on the other and not have to worry about carrying around a bootable sd card all the time. You can boot from CM7 into stock and vice/vs in literally 45 seconds, pnce you take the 30 minutes to get it all set up.
Check me here: http://www.mobileunderground.info/showthread.php?t=51217&p=84794

Well, I thank all of you for your input. I literally spent an hour just messing with both the SGT and the NC. The SGT was a little faster and more responsive but I think that was due to the differences in the UI's themselves. There is only a 200 mhz difference in the processors. I did like the fact that the SGT had front and rear facing cameras, as well as the android market already rocking. BUT..I picked up the Nook Color for two big reasons. The first being that I am an avid book reader, and love the fact that you can boot from SD so I can still have the stock Nook reading experience as well as Gingerbread. The second reason is the modding community here on XDA; you guys pretty much talked me into it. So thanks for all the responses. I am a new Nook Color owner.

Am a happy user of a dual-booting Nook Color running CM 7.0.2 off sd-card, with little need for a camera.
However, being someone who appreciates how much lighter the Nook is compared to the iPad, I'd like to point out that the Nook is ~30% heavier than the Galaxy Tab.

The SGT was a lot thicker. I did not notice a huge difference in weight though.
I am surfing the forums from my NC right now and loving it. Can't wait to load up Gingerbread! Unfortunately I have to work in about an hour, so I will be reading all I can on flashing a new rom onto this. Thanks again guys and gals.

furius said:
I agree with previous posts...
in addition, I could say that the only things I really miss on my Nook (more then gps and camera) are the aptik feedback (vibrations, specially on the keyboard) and a microphone for voice recognition... instead I think that both things are on Galaxy tab (but I'm not sure)...
more then galaxy, you can have on Nook Color a great devs community here at xda! other then save 100$ ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...if the NC had a microphone it would be doubly awesome. That is a limiting thing that made me think twice, but for the price vs features, I still couldn't find better. I'm only OCed to the CM7 default 925Mhz and I haven't had any video playback issues. Watched a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory just yesterday.

Since the Nook's froyo update can you still over clock it? Also, how is battery life after you flash gingerbread or honeycomb?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

tfotos said:
Since the Nook's froyo update can you still over clock it? Also, how is battery life after you flash gingerbread or honeycomb?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't run Honeycomb, but running CM7 from EMMC overclocked to 1.3 GHz, my battery life is about 2 days between charges with moderate use....facebook, email, streaming videos and reading the news. My wife's Nook with rooted stock firmware is definately easier on the power consumption, but not nearly as capable of a machine.

Running CM7 with 1.3 GHz kernel, I think the only missing thing is the camera for me...

Iucas said:
Running CM7 with 1.3 GHz kernel, I think the only missing thing is the camera for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious and truly not trying to be a smartass or anything, but why would you use a camera on a tablet? I mean cell phones are near dedicated digital camera quality and easier to use. I guess I just don't get the desire for a tablet with a camera unless its front facing for video calling...but honestly, if you called me on the phone and I was home you probably wouldn't want the camera turned on anyway...trust me on that one.

I would agree about the camera thing on a tablet. It seems like it would be awkward snapping photos with it. It may be cool for skyping maybe. Usually if I'm going to use the webcam I'm at home so the kids can talk to everyone too.

[Q] Nook HD+ For My Mother

All,
My mom's birthday was coming up and I was going to get her a tablet. She doesn't have a computer and still uses a flip phone just for reference how nontechnical she is.
With new new price of the Nook HD+ it seems like a great buy however how is it in the stock form? I know there is going to be some lag but is it at least tolerable? I watched some YouTube video reviews and it seems when it was first released it was kind of bad but some of the newer ones looked much better.
I know you are all going to say just put CM 10.1 on it and if I was going to use it for myself I would 100% do that however it always seems even at their best roms have some idiocracies of their own that we don't mind but to an average user would seem annoying.
What you guys think in stock form do you think someone would be ok with it if just using the tablet for basic browsing, reading, and netflix is this a good choice?

For a non-tech person, running just plain stock with no mods should work good. It is fairly smooth and stable. Since she has never had a device like this before, she will never notice its shortcomings compared to other Android devices. Go for it!
Sent from my Nook HD+ running CM10.1 on emmc.

leapinlar said:
For a non-tech person, running just plain stock with no mods should work good. It is fairly smooth and stable. Since she has never had a device like this before, she will never notice its shortcomings compared to other Android devices. Go for it!
Sent from my Nook HD+ running CM10.1 on emmc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply! I just didn't want to buy her a piece of junk. Someone bought my Great Aunt (she is 95!) some Walgreen's special android tablet. She was so excited when I went over her house for dinner to show it to me. It was running Ice Cream Sandwich and the thing lagged like I have never seen android before and I just felt bad and smiled and said "wow this is great".
While at least B&N is a reputable company I wanted something that is usable and wont frustrate her to and also cutting down on the inevitable tech support calls I will get.

dsf767 said:
All,
My mom's birthday was coming up and I was going to get her a tablet. She doesn't have a computer and still uses a flip phone just for reference how nontechnical she is.
With new new price of the Nook HD+ it seems like a great buy however how is it in the stock form? I know there is going to be some lag but is it at least tolerable? I watched some YouTube video reviews and it seems when it was first released it was kind of bad but some of the newer ones looked much better.
I know you are all going to say just put CM 10.1 on it and if I was going to use it for myself I would 100% do that however it always seems even at their best roms have some idiocracies of their own that we don't mind but to an average user would seem annoying.
What you guys think in stock from do you think someone would is just going to sue the tablet for basic browsing, reading, and netflix is this a good choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock is a good choice. I just set one up for my wife to use and kept it stock. I figured the easier-to-use Nook interface would be more beneficial than the raw Android interface.
After the two automatic updates, you have all the apps, including Play Store, so just keep it at that. It's a very powerful and beautful tablet (especially for the price!).
Happy Birthday to your Mom!

dsf767 said:
With new new price of the Nook HD+ it seems like a great buy however how is it in the stock form? I know there is going to be some lag but is it at least tolerable? I watched some YouTube video reviews and it seems when it was first released it was kind of bad but some of the newer ones looked much better.
What you guys think in stock form do you think someone would be ok with it if just using the tablet for basic browsing, reading, and netflix is this a good choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine last week and am running it stock.
I have used numerous custom ROMs on numerous devices but I don't plan on putting any custom ROM on the Nook (for now at least).
My impressions:
First - The screen is fantastic!
I can't say enough about the screen; Full HD (1920x1280) resolution with a 9" size makes this a 'Retina' display (if compared to the iPad) - 257ppi (Nook HD+) vs. 264ppi (iPad).
Google Play Store is installed on first boot (system updates itself when turned on). With full store access, it is a full-featured Android tablet, not an e-reader.
The dual-core CPU is on the mid-range side; however it runs the tablet really well. Since the usage is normal browsing and/or reading there should be no problems with it.
I have downloaded Holo Launcher HD and use that as my interface. This gets rid of the B&N interface and allows resizing of the screen grid, widgets etc.
I use the stock reader to read my ePubs and actually prefer it over the ones available in the market.
Adobe handles PDFs and some comic books. With the high-resolution screen, I am able to view an entire page without zooming in.
The Zinio app allows me to download magazines for free from my public library account. These look great too.
There is some lag when viewing PDFs and magazines; the screen takes a second or two to focus when turning pages. Of course, it depends on what is being displayed too.
Angry birds works fine; haven't tested it with any resource-intensive games.
Skype runs all the time on my HD+ and have had multiple conversations with family around the world with no connection issues.
All this would be nothing if not for the price. the close-out price of $150 makes this an incredible value. You can buy 3 of these for the price of one iPad.
Do not hesitate.
Cheers.