As great as the iPad is it is not without it’s limitations. We know apple limits some of it’s products purposefully so that the next iteration is lusted over. The camera for FaceTime is god-awful and from now on FaceTime calls will be done from my iPhone 4. Why not take advantage of a larger screen from this device and add two hd cameras? One in the front and another on the back. Would it hurt that much they are practically the same size, so that’s not an issue. VGA looks grainy and in dark settings is just horrible. Oatmeal has less grain than the iPad’s camera does. Those iPad ads are very misleading as they make the images look incredibly clear. Perhaps the lighting conditions are perfect or they are keeping the hd camera version for themselves. In addition to this this iPad woulds have benefitted from a high resolution screen a retina display or some equivalent high-resolution screen. But that would just exaggerate how bad FaceTime would look on such a screen, hmmm makes you wonder why they did not add a retina display. Other than these small gripes I still love my iPad as this is my first iPad. Those who previously owned one please don’t rush out and get the new one. Wait for the iPad 3 because FaceTime is not worth it plus it makes your hands tired after a while from holding it. If you have an iPhone 4 and the original iPad just use that because it’s like you already have an iPad 2.

As a student I love having my eBooks on here they looks absolutely amazing. Browsing is fast and finding chapters even on a PDF is a smooth process, way better than my nook no rooting necessary. I reiterate the distinction would be more clear between the i-devices from the software standpoint. Make iPad only apps which are so useful to an iPad that it would become silly to use them on a phone. Oh well can’t I just do that on my phone? No. The line must be drawn somewhere and it should be at the software level. Reduce the level of redundancy or “fragmentation”. If this is so the iPad will have achieved a home that is on par with a desktop like experience.

For my particular needs I knew that it would be necessary for me to root my new nookColor soon after I purchased it. I needed something which would read my computer science textbooks for school. Most of these books are in PDF format. I tested the default PDF viewer and was displeased with the performance. It did not remember the page I was on last and there was no option for bookmaking and on top of that it was slow. The default office software is honestly not very good including the web browser no pinch to zoom. But thanks to xda development team we now have options at our disposal. With a batch program called autonooter the process of rooting has been simplified for those with intermediate computer skills.
Perhaps barnes and noble will make an official update with the android market included. But until then we can do this in the mean time. Those that are completely satisfied with the way the nook performs should not be bothered with rooting, but for those looking to squeeze every last ounce out of this should give it a go. If you have a general curiosity then you can cure your curiosity by attempting this as it can be undone there is no harm done. I will demonstrate how to undo incase you no longer wish to restore.

Information on Autonooter

Things you will need
An sd card reader
Micro sd card and adaptor
USB cord
Nook color updated to 1.01
Autonooter

The Barnes and Nobles nook color is the color e-reader everyone has been wishing for. A touch screen color ebook reader with tablet computing features in a book style form factor is an amazing idea. The screen resolution is vivid and bright. The touch screen is a wonderful inclusion. The price point of $250 is very competitive. For an android tablet with a brand name one would imagine a purchase would be a no-brainer. Dubbed the readers tablet is a very accurate statement. The nook does come with a few applications some of which are not up to snuff. With a bit of ingenuity though hackers have seen the potential and have unlocked the android spirit within this device.

A process called rooting unlocks root access to the nook allowing app installs and even the android market. Making the nook a tablet which happens to be a reader. Quite a bit of work was needed to unlock this potential but has become simplified with software such as autonooter that automates the process. The stock software included is not polished enough to have left the lab almost forcing people to want to root their device to get more out of it. The web browser does not utilize pinch to zoom even though the nook is capable of handling it. The office functions such as PDF reader excel word and PowerPoint should never have been included. For example the PDF viewer once you open and close a PDF document will start you from the beginning each time.

This is completely unacceptable for a reader. You should at least be able to bookmark where you last were. Its slow and hard to navigate. Reading is not simply just an ebook experience but an Internet and PDF experience as well. It does read ebooks phenomenally well and the store is simple and intuitive. The battery will give you around 8 hours and has lasted me all day with out needing to charge it. The form factor is perfect for every day travel and use. Some people feel intimidated to use their iPad in public because it can be a cumbersome and awkward experience for not only the user but for those surrounding them. As for the touch screen, for the most part it is accurate but sometimes feel like it’s not as responsive to your touch as it should be. Sometimes it is necessary to touch icons two or more times before the action is recognized.

The nook is a hackers delight giving you a tablet similar enough to the competition like the galaxy tab with a budget price. Rooting is not without its faults and I will post more of my experience with this device rooted. My thoughts are still up in the air with this one as I’m heavily conflicted with how I feel. So let’s weigh the pros and cons. If the software is a deal breaker for you then you might want to hold off on this until Barnes and Noble officially include the android market or there is some type of custom ROM which is easy enough for the average consumer to flash. Barnes and Nobles does state that they will have an update in early January 2011 but do not go into details on whether or not it will include the android market or other improvements. If you want a really good color e-reader and the other points to not deter you than the Nook is your perfect e-reader. But do not let my indifference persuade or dissuade your decision on this device. Just take a look at the video can you can see for your self.

Pros
.Color ebook reader
.Touch screen
.Runs Android
.Brand name
.Vivid screen/High resolution
.Form factor

Cons
.Crippled Software.
.Touch screen not very responsive.
.No android market.

Some developers rush to get their apps out to the market that they don’t even fully test it fully. I mean the program only reads the first line from my contacts and skips the other numbers completely. If they have other numbers like home or office numbers they are not read. There also appears to be number formatting issue where it is not read at all if the format is different (xxx)xxx-xxx if there is a 1 in front or a +1 or another country formatting. I am also concerned with how this program accesses my contacts list for phone numbers? Is it uploading it or merely matching it. Why would they need a copy of my friends emails and phone numbers. It should only check to see if that number is on my phone and if it isn’t then it wont add it. Sounds like a simple if statement to me. What a terrible introduction to a product and if apple was in charge it would have just worked. I shouldn’t have to rename all my contacts on my phone to match just for one program it should go the other way around. Now when you are able to chat it does what its suppose to well and video calling over 3G and cross platform is enjoyable bridges the communities together. But good lord why doesn’t it work right.

Update:
It’s confirmed that removing the country code does affect how the contacts are matched. I’ve added and removed the 1 before the area code from a contact which directly reflected in the tango app. (xxx)xxx-xxxx this seems to work. But still does not pick up my droid friends.

Cons.
1. No Swivel or Pivoting stand.
2. Red power light might be distracting if you have this as a bedroom TV.
3. Sound seems lower when using HDMI most likely because HDMI should be used in a surround sound setting and not with the small built in speakers.

Pros.
1. Inexpensive
2. 40” HDTV with 1080p output
3. Comes prepared out of the box (Even for wall mounting)
Built in digital tuner.

Overall this is a great tv for the buck. It’s price is perfect and does everything the more expensive brands do.

Update:
The 499.99 price is no longer. But 579.99 is still not a bad deal for those looking for a cheap HDTV that can do what the big boys can. But if your smart you will book mark this page because when the holidays come around you know this will be significantly cheaper.

2. The ability to record greetings directly from the phone. If you don’t have access to a computer and you want to change or add a greeting, it would be a nice feature to have.

3. Pictures of your contacts. Either from your phone or if you could upload them to the site.

4. Ditch-Mail access (Toggle on or off). If you do not want to talk to someone you can send them directly to “ditchmail” from the phone. This would be awesome.

5. Push Notification (To let you know when you got a new message). You could easily enable sms notifications. However if you don’t wish to use your own text message account limit, push would be the ideal method.

Such bugs are listed below.

Bugs
1. When you receive a phone call over the cellular network, siphon will close. So that means if you were on a wifi call you will rudely be disconnected.
2. Does not work in the background and understandably so it will murder your battery if it did. Using the program “backgrounder” works to solve this problem but I noticed that I do not stay logged in for long. Might be a memory allocation bug.
3. Bluetooth does not work with this app which kinda sucks if you planned on using a bluetooth headset for making or receiving phone calls.
4. After placing a call on hold and then trying to retrieve the call you are no longer able to hear the person. Might be better to just mute the call instead of placing them on hold.

Benefits.
1. Familiar iphone interface. It uses your favs and phonebook.
2. Wi-fi phones are not cheap but this saves you money on purchasing new hardware.
3. Wi-fi calls are cheap save tons of money by having friends call you when you get free incoming from companies such as Gizmo5.

Other than these bugs or issues siphon is unique application and provides you with all or more of the features of some of the pay apps in the app store. And also it gives you a chance to save money on your phone bill. Plus it works over 3G just don’t think about edge it’s just too slow. An added bonus is that the said application works not only on the iphone but on the ipod touch as well. You will just need to spring for the hardware mic from apple. I use Gizmo5 as my SIP/VOIP provider. Other than their unreliable technical support they have pretty much all their solutions available on their site and great prices. Also you get a real incoming DID number. Once you pay for it you get unlimited incoming. Its OK you get it for the whole year. Just don’t think of speaking to a person for help.

Did you know that you can use your computer monitor as an HDTV saving you some money on getting a brand new HDTV. If you purchased a monitor which has DVI or HDMI inputs it is possible that you can use this as an HDTV because it is capable of receiving HD input signals. If your monitor was like my monitor it will require a little more muscle to get you up and running. Because my monitor used DVI I needed to get a DVI to HDMI converter cable which converts the connectors. I am pretty sure most TV cable companies do not have boxes which have DVI connectors on them so there was no avoiding this step. I checked staples first and could not find the cable I needed. I then checked best buy and found it but it was waaaaay too much money. They ranged anywhere from $60.00 to $99.99 dollars. So I ended up having to look for it online. I checked a few places. A friend referred me to a site called www.monoprice.com. They had what I wanted but still a little bit more than I was willing to pay. So finally I checked eBay and there it was for $9.01 with free shipping so I ordered one. Once I got the item in the mail It was as simple as plug and play. The only adjustment you would have to make is where your sound is going to come from since most monitor do not come with speakers you will need to get external speakers. If you have some cheap satellite speakers laying around you will need yet another converter cable. This time you will need to find a 1/8th” Stereo to RCA cable, radio shack RadioShack Linky has plenty of these.

So what are the down sides? Well Dell monitors (or monitors in general) don’t have IR sensors on them so I cant turn it off with a remote. I have to power it down the old fashion way. Speakers have to be turned off the old fashion way also. Monitors were not meant to be used as televisions. The amount of hours that Televisions are in use for far surpass that of computer use. This probably will burn out faster than a TV would. It could get hot very quickly. The viewing angles are not very wide and the contrast ratio is also low. It was meant for the person to be directly in front of the monitor, so not to the side or below. Other than that I feel its still worth it because it saves me space that my tube tv didn’t do and I get to utilize the HD signals.

Checklist
Video – Monitor with either HDMI or DVI input this was mine yours will vary.
Video – If DVI then you will need a converter cable. (DVI to HDMI Male to Male) my dell was DVI-D. Yours might be different please verify this before you purchase. eBay
Video – Cable box or Satellite box with HDMI output.
Sound – 1/8th” Stereo to RCA cable. RadioShack

Ubiquitous MSI Wind Unboxing Video from Encript on Vimeo.