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$249 Android tablet from Barnes & Noble
- tomeast 16y agoNow to see if they leave allow a full Android environment or lock it down.
- teilo 16y agoI presume that it is merely a matter of time before this device is rooted and turned into a basic Android tablet, complete with Flash, Marketplace access, etc. I suspect, however, that it is too underpowered to support Flash very well.
- ajg1977 16y agoOnly showing non-working mockups and a "look but don't touch" demo unit at the press event for a device that's supposed to ship on Nov 19th makes me highly suspicious. For this thing to succeed it needs a killer web browser, and I suspect it doesn't have one.
- stumm 16y agoWouldn't it get that through the android OS?
- ajg1977 16y agoIt will get 'a web browser', but the experience will depend on the hardware and how it's been adapted to the larger screen. E.g - Is it just the stock Android browser scaled up? - Does it support tabs, how many? - HTML5 video? - How is the scrolling / zooming performance? - How much memory does it contain? How likely are background pages to be flushed? - What's the clock speed? How fast do pages load? What's the JS performance like?
- borism 16y agoI guess you're an iOS user. Froyo has an excellent browser. Experience is very much like with any desktop one. It has windows instead of tabs. I don't think it will support HTML5 video, but it has Flash which works flawlessly (and no unreasonably high impact on battery life). That said, it all depends on decent CPU like Snapdragon, which I don't think nook will get. BTW, nook's own browser is very sucky right now.
- sprout 16y agoIt has to have a pretty modern WebKit build. Compare to Windows Phone 7's IE7/8 hybrid...
- twymer 16y agoI'm personally disappointed that it's more of a "Nook with color" than it is an Android tablet. Wish there was more information about "Nook Developer" as it's hard to tell how much work an Android app needs to run on this.
- rbanffy 16y agoAs far as I know, not much. Rooting the Nook is straightforward (at least the previous version of the original one) and all goes well from there. AFAIK, B&N doesn't support developers and, last time I checked, appeared to have no plans to do so.
- docgnome 16y agoAm I the only one who remembers that the entire point of an e-reader is e-ink? Seems like the reader market is merging into the tablet market.
- burningion 16y agoThe whole reason I'm even interested in an e-reader is because of the opportunity to give my eyes a break. I don't care about color if it means I'm still staring at a computer screen all day. But then again, maybe we aren't the target market...?
- lsc 16y agohell, I'd buy an e-ink display for my laptop. I don't care about color, but it's a portable device... it'd be nice to be able to use it outside (or in the passenger seat of a car on a sunny day)
- borism 16y agoToshiba had (has?) some laptops with transflective displays.
- rbanffy 16y agoWell... The T-1000 was transreflective. And the Data General One...
- rksprst 16y agoTotally agree. I would love to have a laptop that has an e-ink screen (color or not); as long as the refresh rate was normal. Backlit displays cause too much eyestrain. Every chance I get I browse the web on my Kindle - even though the browser sucks + refresh rate sucks; at least my eyes are comfortable. I'm already staring at a laptop coding ~18 hours a day.
- gvb 16y agoYou can buy a Pixel Qi 10" display and retrofit it into a netbook type laptop. This is a follow-on of the OLPC screen. http://www.pixelqi.com/products http://www.pixelqi.com/products $275 + some bravery http://www.pixelqi.com/where_to_buy http://www.pixelqi.com/where_to_buy => http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKPQ01 http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKPQ... Please note: These screens replace those found in the Samsung N130 & Lenovo S10-2. Although they do work in other models, we can only guarantee compatibility on those 2 specific netbooks. We are testing other models, and will update the list as needed.
- StavrosK 16y agoThe Archos 101 has comparable price, a 10" display, Android Market and looks very very good indeed.
- alexyoung 16y agoE Ink Holdings (and competitors) have been demoing colour E Ink screens for a while. This doesn't use that but I can't wait to see one that does.
- greyman 16y agoI want to ask: do you guys in U.S. really do have that much WiFi coverage so you don't need a 3G? Here in Europe I can't imagine to buy such a thing without 3G... or do you do WiFi tethering through your phone or carry a WiFi hotspot device with you?
- baddox 16y agoI pay for 3g on my smartphone in the US and it's pretty much wasted. I have wifi at home, work, and school, and even inside and outside most of the downtown places (bars, restaurants) I frequent. I literally only use 3g when I'm in my car (which isn't very often) and when I want to listen to Pandora or Grooveshark (also not often given my 30 GB music collection on the phone) or if I want GPS directions (my only real use of 3g, and that's at the most twice a month).
- Raphael 16y agoDownload the 1 or 2 books you need for the day and viola, no connection needed.
- greyman 16y agoBut I would also like to use it for web/email. If I want tablet only for reading, then I can buy Kindle instead.
- rodh257 16y agoIt frustrates me when people release devices like this. It's not a good e-reader because it hurts your eyes if you read on it for too long, and it's a half-baked tablet. Whats the point? You can't compete with the iPad with equipment like this, so why not stick to making good quality e-readers?