Rooting a NOOKcolor 1.2.0

Categories Android, Google, Hacking, NOOK, NOOKcolor, Rooting, YouTube

I picked up my new NOOKcolor, yesterday, at Barnes and Noble.  As just an eBook reader, it is very impressive.  But, I wanted to the full Android tablet capabilities, not just an eReader.

After searching all around the Internet for reliable instructions, I found a video walk-through on YouTube (http://youtu.be/A2-Zu6ADH_g), and a text walk-through on xda-developers.com (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=987735).

In short, what this takes is a micro SD card, turned into a bootable SD card, with the new ROM on it.  The walk-through on the xda site links to the needed image writer, the bootable image, and the new ROM.  Those links are as follows:

Image Writer:  https://launchpad.net/win32-image-writer
Bootable Image: http://legacyschool.us.to/nookdev/clockwork/0.7/
ROM: ManualNooter-4-5-18.zip

The video shows a “Install Failed” at the end of the installation.  I received the same screen, and after rebooting it worked fine.  Once the tablet is rooted, it appears to work just like a regular Android tablet.  I just rooted mine, so we’ll see how it goes throughout the day.

–W3BGUY

YouTube Embed Code Experiment

Categories Google, Information Technology, YouTube

via Website Magazine

YouTube is experimenting with a shorter, more compatible embed code which uses the <iframe> tag.

If you choose to use the new embed code style, site visitors will be able to view the embedded video in one of YouTube’s Flash or HTML5 players depending on their viewing environment and preferences. Supported environments include those browsers that support both the video tag in HTML5 and either the h.264 video codec or the WebM format (with VP8 codec).

As an aside, WebM is a media file format designed exclusively for the Web.

The suppported browsers include Firefox (WebM enabled version), Google Chrome (h.264 supported), Opera (WebM supported), Microsoft IE 9 (h.264), and Apple Safari (h.264, version 4+). Should there be an instance when HTML5 is not supported, YouTube will use Flash.

One of the most significant developments of the new embed style is that it will eventually allow embeds to work on mobile devices.

There are a few restrictions to the beta-test of the new embed code. Videos with ads are not supported (they will play in the Flash player), and on Firefox and Opera only videos with WebM transcodes will play in HTML5.

To participate in this experiment, simply join the HTML5 beta here.