I've downloaded and installed the update, it was easy and took perhaps fifteen minutes. *Do _NOT_ try to navigate to the Nook website on your Nook and download the file, I did this and it was a waste of time. *Download it on your desktop here: *Software Updates - Barnes*&*Noble
Resist your impulses, and do NOT unzip the file on your desktop. Do what I didn't do first thing, and read the instructions. Sorry for the asterisks here, I copy/pasted this and they were somehow introduced.
The worst part is waiting for the Nook Color to go to sleep after you've moved the file onto the NC. *Going to sleep starts the upgrade automatically, which doesn't take long. *Once you've done it properly, it makes it very clear that you've successfully upgraded.
I've played with this for maybe 45 minutes, so I haven't given it a thorough workout, but I have some observations.
I think the browser is slightly improved, but not dramatically so. *Double-tapping didn't zoom in on columns of text in the attempts I made to do it, which is a disappointment if the feature isn't there. *I'm hoping I missed it somehow. *Flash is supposed to be enabled, but I haven't tried it yet.
The music player is nicer, and feels more professional. *Not a big deal, but nice. *I haven't tried the video player yet.
Of course, what I was most interested in was the app store! *You shop for apps just like any other B&N product, so (as far as I can tell) when you use the "search" field, apps will be mixed in your responses along with Nook Books and anything else you can buy on the Nook.
As for the apps themselves, this is something of a reality check. *The Nook is a small market compared to the Android Market as a whole, so overall app selection is limited. *PLUS, the Nook doesn't have continuous 3G wireless, so ads can't download and tempt you to follow them off to sponsor websites. *The good news is that this means there are no ads. *The bad news is that the people who did the app want to be compensated (reasonable enough), and you have to pay them upfront. *There are very few free apps, and hardly any free apps that do much that is meaningful. *The paid apps are a little pricier than I'm used to in the Android store. *Angry Birds is $2.99, and most games are $2.99 to $5.99. *I believe UNO (card game) was $4.99. *I'm not that big on arcade games (which was what most of the games are) but I did download "Crush the Castle", a game I own for both my iPad and my Android phone, and it worked fine (and at ninety nine cents it will satisfy my urges to play games if I simply must play on a larger screen than my phone, yet don't have my ipad).
There are an absolute ton of language apps and several cooking apps. *Some are quite expensive, I saw one dictionary for $59.99! *There are a fair number of social apps, and a very limited supply of news and weather apps. *I downloaded the Pulse News app for free, and it works quite well based on limited experimentation. *There is only one weather app, and it costs $4.99! *Since I'm used to very nice weather apps on my phone for free or a buck or two, I rejected this (and most of the time I'd want to know the weather and have a wifi connection, my Android phone will be more convenient anyway).
A few apps do come pre-installed, mainly crossword, chess, Sudoku, and Pandora (I know the crossword app was available in the earlier software, and think the others may have). *There are apps for contacts, email, and "Nook Friends" that I haven't tried yet.
There are lots of games and utilities available for pay, including Flight Controller, a calculator, a big clock screen, and (of great interest to some) EZPDF Reader and a drawing pad. *An app called Spawn lets you create screensavers and wallpapers. *For travel, we have a plethora of language apps, Flightview (for .99, very reasonable), and a free American Airlines app. *A paid GoTV networks app gives you access to a swarm of religious videos. *There are a few graphic novels available for download, several Archie<!> comic books and a graphic novel of the recent Star Trek movie (which is listed as a movie in at least one menu, somebody is going to be disappointed). *I believe the Archie books were $5.99 (This appears to be for several comic books worth of stuff) and the Star Trek "novel" was $9.99. *The only apps I've downloaded so far were the news app and the one game.
Everything seems to run smoothly. *On web browsing it isn't as fast and nice as my iPad 2 (no big surprise since the iPad has a dual-core processor), but it is pretty good.* Everything else I tried was very smooth.* Overall it is a nice upgrade to the original, I'm disappointed but not surprised at the cost of the apps. *I won't be buying a ton of paid apps since I already own most of the ones I'd want to use on my iPad and/or Phone. *I found no real "back" key on most screens while browsing for apps, which was annoyance. *It was easy to go back to the top of the apps listing and choose a category or search, but sometimes not as convenient as going back a screen.
Resist your impulses, and do NOT unzip the file on your desktop. Do what I didn't do first thing, and read the instructions. Sorry for the asterisks here, I copy/pasted this and they were somehow introduced.
The worst part is waiting for the Nook Color to go to sleep after you've moved the file onto the NC. *Going to sleep starts the upgrade automatically, which doesn't take long. *Once you've done it properly, it makes it very clear that you've successfully upgraded.
I've played with this for maybe 45 minutes, so I haven't given it a thorough workout, but I have some observations.
I think the browser is slightly improved, but not dramatically so. *Double-tapping didn't zoom in on columns of text in the attempts I made to do it, which is a disappointment if the feature isn't there. *I'm hoping I missed it somehow. *Flash is supposed to be enabled, but I haven't tried it yet.
The music player is nicer, and feels more professional. *Not a big deal, but nice. *I haven't tried the video player yet.
Of course, what I was most interested in was the app store! *You shop for apps just like any other B&N product, so (as far as I can tell) when you use the "search" field, apps will be mixed in your responses along with Nook Books and anything else you can buy on the Nook.
As for the apps themselves, this is something of a reality check. *The Nook is a small market compared to the Android Market as a whole, so overall app selection is limited. *PLUS, the Nook doesn't have continuous 3G wireless, so ads can't download and tempt you to follow them off to sponsor websites. *The good news is that this means there are no ads. *The bad news is that the people who did the app want to be compensated (reasonable enough), and you have to pay them upfront. *There are very few free apps, and hardly any free apps that do much that is meaningful. *The paid apps are a little pricier than I'm used to in the Android store. *Angry Birds is $2.99, and most games are $2.99 to $5.99. *I believe UNO (card game) was $4.99. *I'm not that big on arcade games (which was what most of the games are) but I did download "Crush the Castle", a game I own for both my iPad and my Android phone, and it worked fine (and at ninety nine cents it will satisfy my urges to play games if I simply must play on a larger screen than my phone, yet don't have my ipad).
There are an absolute ton of language apps and several cooking apps. *Some are quite expensive, I saw one dictionary for $59.99! *There are a fair number of social apps, and a very limited supply of news and weather apps. *I downloaded the Pulse News app for free, and it works quite well based on limited experimentation. *There is only one weather app, and it costs $4.99! *Since I'm used to very nice weather apps on my phone for free or a buck or two, I rejected this (and most of the time I'd want to know the weather and have a wifi connection, my Android phone will be more convenient anyway).
A few apps do come pre-installed, mainly crossword, chess, Sudoku, and Pandora (I know the crossword app was available in the earlier software, and think the others may have). *There are apps for contacts, email, and "Nook Friends" that I haven't tried yet.
There are lots of games and utilities available for pay, including Flight Controller, a calculator, a big clock screen, and (of great interest to some) EZPDF Reader and a drawing pad. *An app called Spawn lets you create screensavers and wallpapers. *For travel, we have a plethora of language apps, Flightview (for .99, very reasonable), and a free American Airlines app. *A paid GoTV networks app gives you access to a swarm of religious videos. *There are a few graphic novels available for download, several Archie<!> comic books and a graphic novel of the recent Star Trek movie (which is listed as a movie in at least one menu, somebody is going to be disappointed). *I believe the Archie books were $5.99 (This appears to be for several comic books worth of stuff) and the Star Trek "novel" was $9.99. *The only apps I've downloaded so far were the news app and the one game.
Everything seems to run smoothly. *On web browsing it isn't as fast and nice as my iPad 2 (no big surprise since the iPad has a dual-core processor), but it is pretty good.* Everything else I tried was very smooth.* Overall it is a nice upgrade to the original, I'm disappointed but not surprised at the cost of the apps. *I won't be buying a ton of paid apps since I already own most of the ones I'd want to use on my iPad and/or Phone. *I found no real "back" key on most screens while browsing for apps, which was annoyance. *It was easy to go back to the top of the apps listing and choose a category or search, but sometimes not as convenient as going back a screen.
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