[kwlug-disc] Android tablet

[Chris Irwin]

There were a few people that were asking questions about the tablet I had
with me on monday. It is a "Barnes & Noble NookColor", from the book chain
of the same name south of the border. It is marketed, and functions, as an
e-reader.

They have several devices, but this one in particular has a regular colour
LCD screen (as opposed to e-ink on the others) which makes it suitable for
use as a plain-old tablet. The device actually runs android out of the box,
but is a very customized interface geared toward buying their ebooks (which
you can't do in Canada anyway). There are a few options to run a "plain"
android build on it, turning it in to a relatively inexpensive tablet when
compared to some of the alternatives.

The simplest option (where I started) is called NookieFroyo. This is a build
of Android 2.2 that you install (dd) on a microSD card. The NookColor boots
from SD first, so this is a great way to get your feet wet without flashing
the device. Pull the card out and you're running the original firmware.

    http://nookdevs.com/NookColor:_Nookie_Froyo

<http://nookdevs.com/NookColor:_Nookie_Froyo>Running from MicroSD tends to
be slow, so when looking to flash it to the internal memory I came across
another firmware, CyanogenMod. This is a build of Android 2.3 designed as
a permanent replacement for the stock firmware. I've been running this for a
few months without any issues.

    http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Barnes_%26_Noble_Nook_Color


-- 
Chris Irwin
<chris at chrisirwin.ca>
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