B&N to release NOOK GlowLight 3

[gbm]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Go back and red my message. I changed it. Just not soon enough for you to see the original.

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't know exactly what you're talking about (I could check it out, I guess), but I'll try to ignore these messages in the future and try to be less caustic in any future responses. Sorry.

You owe him no apologies, he is the one "who changed his post" after you had read and replied.

bernie

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by rcentros

You've got a lot done on this device in just a few hours. Is the Nova Launcher hard to install? I like the fact that it and Calibre Companion allow sideloaded content to reside on the "main" partition (if I understood you correctly). Not that I would really need it, but it would make me feel that all that extra memory could actually be useful ... for something like, maybe, SimpleNote for reading notes (or writing, pasting to them). Obviously I don't understand how all this would work or how difficult it would be to accomplish. But it gives me something to look into.

That screen really is nice.

If you (or anyone else) is interested in doing this, the hard part is setting up your desktop/laptop and then the Glowlight to talk to each other. Your computer needs to have ADB (Android Debug Bridge) set up. Thankfully, there is an easy way to do that if you have Windows. You can download and install a free app (program) called Minimal ADB and Fastboot. It will do the setup for you. Then, it's a matter of turning on ADB in your Glowlight. Then, running adb from a C prompt on your computer, and the Glowlight connected by USB, you can type ADB install (then the location and name of the app you wish to install). The app then gets installed on the Glowlight. That's the quick overview of how it's done.

If you have a Mac, ADB can be set up in Terminal. I did that on my Mac, and it makes the process quite quick and easy. If I could only recall how I did it...

I'll see if there is a good, thorough step by step guide for people who are new to such things. Or, I can think about it and see if I can put something together.

[groot]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Is the Nova Launcher hard to install?

It works almost exactly like the Plus. There's an overview here:

https://medium.com/@iontea/nook-glow...s-39743fd64cf7

Instead of a few taps on the version number, you tap a few times on the Nook icon near the top of Settings -> About to enable developer settings.

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by groot

It works almost exactly like the Plus. There's an overview here:

https://medium.com/@iontea/nook-glow...s-39743fd64cf7

Instead of a few taps on the version number, you tap a few times on the Nook icon near the top of Settings -> About to enable developer settings.

I did this with the Plus as well. With the 3, there was (at least for me) one crucial difference. When I reached Step 6 (run adb devices), the 3 appeared as "unauthorized". That required turning off and turning on USB debugging, and reauthorizing my computer in Developer Settings. Then, the 3 appeared as simply 'device', and I was able to install apps.

[groot]

If I remember correctly...I checked USB Debugging. Got unauthorized. Then went back into the screen you get from multi-tapping the nook icon and clicked the Enable USB Debugging BUTTON. Then it worked.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't know exactly what you're talking about (I could check it out, I guess), but I'll try to ignore these messages in the future and try to be less caustic in any future responses. Sorry.

After I posted, I realized it was a bit redundant. So I replaced it with something else.

[Calenorn]

Went to see the Trey at B&N today. The color shifting light is VERY nice! Probably enough to get me to purchase eventually.

Have a few concerns about the firmware. One of the settings screens lacked any back arrow, requiring return to the home screen. Another ends at the bottom of the page in mid-sentence, with no way to go to the next page. These bugs might be fixed with the firmware upgrade, or perhaps the display models in the store are somehow different. I suspect this is the case, because I THINK I saw the display model shifting quickly from blue-white to orange and back. I doubt that such a display mode will be on the purchased units.

[Calenorn]

Also, why is this new product called the Glowlight 3?

Think about it, there was a Simple Touch with Glowlight (1).
Then the white-body NOOK Glowlight (2)
Then the NOOK Glowlight Plus (3)
And now the NOOK Glowlight 3 (er... 4?).

It's a glimpse into B&N's thinking about this product. It's the "3" because the NOOK Glowlight Plus DOESN'T COUNT. It wasn't a "real" NOOK. It doesn't have the classic shape, form, and texture of the Simple Touch, while the others do.

The others all have the partitioned memory, too. The NST (w/o memory card) had about 250M, the whitey-lighty went about 500M, and now the Trey roughly 1000M. See the pattern? It doubles with each iteration. Ol' B&N probably feels like that's plenty.

Face it; there aren't enough of us hobbyists who care about side-loading to sway the sales numbers either way. The NOOK is an entry level downloading machine, designed to sell B&N digital product. Without doubling the price, we won't get everything.

FOR THE PRICE it's a pretty nice reader. And B&N has to keep the price down to get the walk-in customers to bite. But, let's be fair. Lots of people wanted the page turn buttons, and they came back.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

After I posted, I realized it was a bit redundant. So I replaced it with something else.

Okay, now I understand. I was apologizing because there wasn't really any reason to be caustic, even before the message changed.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

If you (or anyone else) is interested in doing this, the hard part is setting up your desktop/laptop and then the Glowlight to talk to each other. Your computer needs to have ADB (Android Debug Bridge) set up.

Okay. I may look into this, if and when I buy a Glowlight 3 (or even a Plus). I have extra "fun" to contend with in that I use Linux. But then, that might make it easier. I think I, at one point, had ADB installed on my Linux computer for some reason. But that was a few years ago, before I was quite so senile.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Went to see the Trey at B&N today. The color shifting light is VERY nice! Probably enough to get me to purchase eventually.

That's what I keep going back to. The display really is nice. The memory partition issue is more of a "on principle" kind of thing for me. 1 GB of side-loading is probably more than I would ever need anyhow. But it still bugs me that the partitions exist (especially configured the way they are).

[raindog89]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

The others all have the partitioned memory, too. The NST (w/o memory card) had about 250M, the whitey-lighty went about 500M, and now the Trey roughly 1000M. See the pattern? It doubles with each iteration. Ol' B&N probably feels like that's plenty.

Fair point about the Nook demographic, but I don't think the Glowlight Plus was partitioned.
I know when I plugged mine into my computer, Windows showed me 2.81GB available.
So it's annoying to have a device with twice the storage and a third available.

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

I've been playing with my Glowlight 3 more as a "proof of concept" thing, to see what can be done with the device as is.

Yes, it is possible to install a launcher and apps. I installed Calibre Companion and, as a test, sent two books to the G-3. They live in the "internal storage" partition - that which is listed as being over 6 gb. The "sideloaded" partition is listed on the device as the external sd card. (You can see these names in the full settings menu, that you can access only with another launcher installed.) Using Calibre Companion, then, I can get books onto the "internal storage". However, the stock Nook reader cannot see them there.

Can you read the books with Calibre Companion? If you can do the page turn buttons work?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

Can you read the books with Calibre Companion? If you can do the page turn buttons work?

Calibre Companion isn't a reader app.

[groot]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Okay. I may look into this, if and when I buy a Glowlight 3 (or even a Plus). I have extra "fun" to contend with in that I use Linux. But then, that might make it easier. I think I, at one point, had ADB installed on my Linux computer for some reason. But that was a few years ago, before I was quite so senile.

ADB works great on linux. That's what I used to tweak my nook. The only trick is that you may need to set up udev rules, but a helpful developer has automated the process here:

https://github.com/snowdream/51-android