Nook Color update v1.2.0 released no comments
Barnes & Noble has released the expected update (v1.2.0) for the Nook Color. The update will be pushed out over the Wi-Fi connection over the next few weeks. You can also manually download the update if you wish.
The update to firmware version 1.2.0 is a major one and upgrades the Nook Color to Android 2.2 (Froyo). The promised app store is now here, along with an email client with unified inbox and support for Adobe Flash Player.
The official list of improvements:
- Access to shop a broad collection of popular NOOK Apps™ to enjoy great games, stay up to date on news and weather, and more
- Full-featured free email to check and send web-based email (i.e., Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL) all from one in-box
- NOOK Color’s update to Android OS 2.2/Froyo offers system improvements, browser performance and a more complete Web experience giving customers access to enjoy even more video, interactive and animated content. NOOK Color now includes support for Adobe® Flash® Player
- NOOK Kids™ exciting new Read and Play titles that bring animation, activities and stories together
- NOOK Books Enhanced offer in-page video and audio in a growing number of titles
- Enhancements to magazine navigation making it easier to enjoy even more of the growing selection of magazines in NOOK Newsstand
- NOOK Friends™ (beta) to see your friends’ reading activities, swap books with LendMe™, share recommendations and discover new titles
After installing the update a new app, Nook Friends, is added to the eight originally on the NC. There is also a link to the app store, which currently has 139 apps. Available apps include everything from a few free utilities such as calendar and notes apps to paid children’s book apps, games, language phrasebooks, etc. I have not directly compared pricing, but the apps seem a little on the expensive side.
One problem I’ve had with my NC is that sometimes the responsiveness of the touchscreen at the edges is not good in certain applications. The problem was especially noticeable for me in the Crossword app. It did seem to be somewhat improved after the last update, and I am happy to report (after only a few minutes with the new update — I may be missing something) that the issue appears to have been fixed.
The Web browser now allows you to switch between desktop and mobile browser modes, but the setting is buried within several menus and takes several clicks to get to.
I have seen reports that the update now allows reading ebooks in landscape mode, but if this is true I have yet to find how to enable it.
I’ve only been able to use the update briefly, but so far my impression is that it has made the Nook Color much more tablet-like. The NC could now perhaps be considered an entry level tablet even without being rooted.
HSN had been selling the Nook Color for $329, but today has raised the price to $379. For the extra $80 and now $130 over the price at Barnes & Noble (where the Nook Color is $249) HSN is including a 2GB microSD card with 100 public domain titles (these are the B&N versions that have been properly formatted, but still….) and the oft-repeated promise that customers who purchase their Nook Color from HSN would be receiving the update before everyone else. I’m not sure if HSN customers actually got the update any earlier — I saw a comment on B&N’s Nook forums from one HSN customer, kjreads, who had still not received the update this morning by 7:30.
