Nook Color becomes an unintentional rival of the iPad, with sales to match

If Electonista's source is correct, then Apple may have find its unexpected rival in the form of an e-reader. According to the suppliers of Barnes & Noble, the book seller may have sold 3 millions Nook Color since it launched in the fall. To put the number in perspective, Apple sold about 15 millions iPad worldwide since its launch, with 7.5 millions sold in the fall. On the other hand, the Nook Color is only available in the US. No matter how you look at it, 3 millions of Nook Color in the US alone versus 7.5 millions of iPad worldwide is a sales number that Barnes & Noble should be very proud of.

Of course, one might argue that the Nook Color isn't even a tablet, but as demonstrated by numerous people, including myself, it can become a very capable tablet with very little effort:





Nook Color may have hit 3m units, 50% of tablets in US | Electronista: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Motorola Droid 3 to feature OMAP4, Motorola Targa to be first phone with quad-core NVIDIA Kal-El? – Android and Me

Oh, Moto, how much I hate you? Just when I am above to give up on you, and consider moving to HTC later this year, you make another attempt to lure me back.

The Droid 3

The Droid Targa

Now, I have no interest at the X2, but the Droid 3 and Droid Targa? The Targa is my favorite among the 3 phones (my contract is up for renewal mid-Nov, so it's perfect timing for me.) However, I need to wait and see if the bootloader is locked and/or encrypted.

Motorola Droid 3 to feature OMAP4, Motorola Targa to be first phone with quad-core NVIDIA Kal-El? – Android and Me: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

How to sideload app in Honeycomb powered Nook Color using ADB

Sideloading app into a Honeycomb powered Nook Color using ADB is the same as any sideloading in any other Android devices. If you can't make it work, 99% of the times, it's because of a driver problem. In this case, you will need to install a Nook Color driver for ADB. What you need is the following:

Credits

1. thecubed: XDA member thecubed created the Easy USB ADB Installer for Windows. You can find the original post at: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=910008.
   

1. If you haven't done it already, download the Easy USB ADB Installer from the original XDA link above, or from my mirror at http://www.fileserve.com/file/rdx7UvM
   
   
2. Unrar the downloaded file nook-usb-installer.rar



3. Run install.exe in the extracted folder and follow the onscreen prompts.

Once the driver is installed, you should be able to use ADB command on your Nook Color. If your Nook Color isn't showing up, try unplugging it, then plug it back in and turn off the screen of the Nook Color (but DON'T TURN THE POWER OFF.) If it still doesn't show up, make sure USB debugging is checked (under Settings -> Applications -> Development.) After that, you can install any APK from your Windows PC by doing:

• adb windows-path-to-your-apk

Motorola Xoom Flash Player: Game Playing Hand On -- Clear HD

Playing a game using the leaked Flash Player on a Motorola Xoom.

8.9" Samsung Honeycomb Tablet

Among the 3 top Android tablet makers (Motorola, LG, and Samsung -- IMO, without a Honeycomb tablet, HTC is not going to achieve much with the Flyer), I am most attracted by the yet-to-be-announced 8.9" tablet from Samsung. I have a Nook Color and I love its size. A ~10" tablet, no matter how light it is, is not for single-hand handling. I always want the Nook Color's screen to be a bit bigger, but not so big that it rivals the Xoom or iPad. A ~8.9" tablet will be perfect for me. Pixel density is not a BIG issue to me. Sure, I can't stand for a 800 x 600 resolution, but something similar to the Nook Color is sufficient. A slightly bigger physical size, however, can make it easier to read small text.

Anyway, no one knows for sure if Samsung really will come up with a 8.9" tablet. May be it will surprise us with a 8", AND a 9"?

Xoom Unboxing

Unboxed a Xoom today. I can't say I don't like it, but there is one thing that really pissed me off. For $800, Motorola didn't even bother to put in a plastic bag, which would cost them, may be 2 cents? Yes, it's covered with a plastic sheet, but it's covered with fingerprints!

Oh, the box's cover wasn't even taped (and it's very loose.)



Anyway, this tablet is still by far the best tablet experience one would get -- move away, iPad.