In what’s becoming a familiar refrain, it was just a few weeks after the launch of the Barnes & Noble Nook Color in November, that the device was rooted. Although the Nook Color is an e-reader, the hack means that you can take full advantage of its Android operating system.
By rooting the device, you can enable the Android Market and download apps. Doing so likely voids your Nook warranty, of course, but it means that you’ve turned a $250 e-reader into a (fairly-functioning) Android tablet.
The details of the rooting process are available on the Blog Kindle, which notes with expected glee that this means you can read Kobo, Kindle and Nook e-books on the same e-reader.
The hack requires a microSD card that’s larger than 128 MB and an SD card reader, as well as the rooting tool (for Windows users. Mac and Linux users can use their OS tools) and the “nooting” software.
It seems like an easy process (admittedly, I haven’t tried it myself but it is tempting), and Blog Kindle indicates that YouTube, Remote Desktop, Gmail and Angry Birds all work well. The e-books within Kobo app apparently gets stuck “waiting for download,” but I bet if you root your e-reader, it isn’t simply for a better digital library.
SmartphoneMag reported earlier this month that the Nook is expected to get an Android update in January (something to keep in mind as you won’t be able to update your device and keep this hack), but Barnes & Noble says it has no plans to bring the Android Market to the Nook Color.
