Nook Color | Operation Android

HTC Flyer Tablet Dropped to $300 to Compete With Low Cost Kindle Fire

The HP TouchPad and Kindle Fire have created a domino effect in tablet prices. Best Buy permanently dropped the HTC Flyer to $300 on Saturday to compete with the low cost Amazon tablet. That's $200 less than its normal $500 asking price. The 7-inch 16GB Flyer is available at Best Buy stores and online at Bestbuy.com.

RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook also received a temporary price cut from Best Buy on Thursday. The 16GB RIM tablet is now $300, the 32GB version is $400, and the 64GB model was dropped to $500. The PlayBook sale ends on October 8.

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Pre-order Amazon's Kindle Fire Today (iPad 2 Comparison)

Amazon is accepting pre-orders for its newly announced Kindle Fire starting today. The tablet will be released on November 15, on a first come, first served basis with free shipping.

The Kindle Fire is an affordable option to Apple's iPad and it features over 16,000 apps compared to the NOOK Color's 729 available apps. The Gorilla Glass protected, multitouch IPS display features the same resolution (1024 x 600) as the BlackBerry Playbook. It's a light (14.6 ounces) 7-inch tablet with a TI OMAP4 dual-core processor, 8GB of internal storage with 8-hours of continuous reading, and 7.5 of video playback time.

The Kindle Fire runs its own smoother version of Android, but features no camera, microphone or 3G. It does offer WiFi and a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime ($79 per year for access to Amazon's movie and TV streaming service). It's built for entertainment with fast web browsing on Amazon Silk, and its 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books.

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A New Way to Root NOOK Color [Dual boot / No hacking]

So you're interested in running great Android apps on your NOOK Color but rooting sounds complicated, and it will violate your warranty. Besides, there's a chance the device could be ruined permanently if something goes wrong. With Nook2Android all of these concerns fall to the wayside. Enter the simple way to root your NOOK risk-free and reversibly.

Dual-boot means you can run Android 2.3 Gingerbread and the Android Market directly from a microSD card when you want a full tablet experience, and NOOK Color default software at other times. Switching operating systems is as simple as rebooting the NOOK Color with or without the memory card installed.

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How to Root Your NOOK Touch (Jailbreak Instructions)

If you're interested in running Android apps on the Barnes and Noble NOOK Simple Touch Reader you can root the device by following some simple steps. First you'll need equipment, including a computer and of course a NOOK Touch. The USB cable connecting the NOOK to your computer will be used in the process.

You'll also need a Wi-Fi network and a Class 6 microSD card that's 128 MB or larger. This card will be completely wiped so don't use one that stores any files you care about losing. A dedicated SD card adapter or USB card reader is also required to properly write the image. Remember, even if the NOOK Touch can be considered a deal at only $139, rooting the device WILL violate your warranty!

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Nook Simple Touch Reader

Barnes & Noble Giving Away 30 Free Books With NOOK Upgrade

Barnes & Noble stores are giving away a free 2GB microSD card loaded with 30 books to anyone who switches from their old eReader to a NOOK or NOOK Color.

"Beginning July 1, bring any eReader into a Barnes & Noble bookstore to compare and upgrade to a NOOK device and receive an instant NOOK Book collection -- 30 free digital titles valued at $315. The limited-time NOOK upgrade program is offered with purchase of any popular NOOK device including the All-New NOOK and NOOK Color Reader’s Tablet."

Sounds like a great deal, but only if you're interested in the digital books being given away. Here are the seven titles Barnes & Noble listed in their press release: The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, Cristina Ferrare’s Big Bowl of Love, Creating Your Best Life, Glory in the Fall: The Greatest Moments in World Series History, 21st Century Crossword Puzzle Dictionary, My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me and Secret Garden.

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4 Great Android Devices For Father's Day

Does Dad need to ditch his dinosaur of a cell phone? Or maybe he just deserves more than a tie this Father's Day? Here are four great Android devices that any father would want.

Samsung Infuse 4G - $199 with contract

The Infuse 4G from AT&T is known as the nation’s thinnest smartphone. Its easy to cary design, great call quality, large display and long battery life make it the perfect gift for the dad on-the-go. Tech-savvy dads will enjoy its 1.2 GHz high speed processor, Android 2.2, and 8.0 rear megapixel camera. (complete specs and reviews)

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Barnes & Noble NOOK Color

Released on November 19, 2010, the Barnes & Noble NOOK Color is an Android-based color e-reader. The NOOK Color is available directly from Barnes & Noble for $249.

Device Type:

Tablet PC

Weight:

15.8 ounces

Dimensions:

8.1 x 5 x 0.48 inches (205 x 127mm x 12.2 mm)

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Nook Color

Processor:

Ti OMAP 3621 @ 800Mhz

GPU:

POWERVR SGX530

USB:

2.0

Internal Memory:

512 MB (expandable)

Wi-Fi:

802.11b/g/n

Website Reviews:

"If you're a hardcore reader with an appetite that extends beyond books to magazines and newspapers, the Color is the first viable option we've seen that can support your habit. Not only does Barnes & Noble have an astoundingly good selection of e-book titles, the company seems to be aggressively pursuing the periodical business, which is a big deal. This is the first device we've seen that effectively and consistently presents a color magazine option. It's not the fanciest or most sophisticated presentation, but the idea of having your favorite glossy delivered direct to a device like this every month (in a truly readable format) is a major innovation."

Engadget, November, 2010

"This is a capable little thing, potentially the first of a new kind of cheap tweener tablet with functionality that's both broad but limited: Besides books, it delivers full color magazines and newspapers from most all of the major publishers; it can surf the web, play music and videos, even run Android apps like Pandora."

Gizmodo, November, 2010

Display Resolution:

600 x 1024 pixels

External Memory:

microSDHC, up to 32GB

Display Size:

7.0 inches

Display Type:

LCD

Display Colors:

16 million

Battery Type:

3.7V 4000mAh 14.8Wh Li-ion

Battery Life:

8 hours

Major Nook Color Update Arrives, Turns eReader into Tablet

Last month, Barnes & Noble announced that a big update was coming to the Nook Color. The update was scheduled to bring Adobe Flash, enhanced browsing, app support, and more. A little less than a month later, that update has arrived, and Nook Color owners or prospective buyers now have a considerable tablet for a reasonable $249.

The update is available now by manually downloading and updating the Nook Color, or can be had as an OTA (over-the-air) update sometime next week. If you're currently a Nook Color owner, chances are you'll want to follow the download link previously mentioned and take advantage of all the new features the update brings.

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Nook Color Update to Bring Android App Store and Adobe Flash

If you're looking for the best value tablet on the market currently, look no further than the Nook Color. If you find yourself thinking that the Nook Color isn't a tablet, but is instead an e-reader, you'd be right. Turning the Nook Color into the best value tablet out there means rooting it and installing a vanilla Android OS, thus voiding your warranty. That last tidbit has kept many a Nook Color owner from getting the most for their money. These individuals will be pleased to hear that a major update coming to the Nook Color very well may upgrade the device to the best $300 tablet available, no warranty voiding required.

Barnes & Noble will be updating the firmware on the Nook Color bringing access to the NOOK Store where users can shop for Android apps, as well as support for Adobe Flash. The update stated to also be bringing an "enhanced web browser", which may or may not be limited to the addition of Flash.

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