FroYo/2.2 Coming Week of April 11?

[sholmes]

This was posted on the Nook developer site on 4/7. Seems like a simple question:

"Are you still planning to support AIR and Flash?

brent posted this on Apr-07 08:55

Searching this new developer portal, I'm not seeing info on any sort of AIR or Flash support. Is this still in the works? I get the impression from the frameworks page that it's not. Can you please confirm this?

Thanks, Brent"

There are a number explanations for the lack of an answer. One is that Flash is supported and BN wants to keep this close to the vest and really make a splash when the update is released.

The other is that the upcoming update does NOT have flash. I'll keep an eye out and see if there is an answer.

Are you still planning to support AIR and Flash? : Developer Support

 

[J515OP]

The other is that the upcoming update does NOT have flash. I'll have Watson keep an eye out and see if there is an answer.

Fixed it for ya

 

[sholmes]

This will cut to the chase.

Android Version
faucher asked this on Apr-07 09:10
The supported version for development is 2.1. I thought the 2.2 update was being released at the same time as the app store. Won't this make our apps obsolete (lacking available 2.2 features) right out of the gate?

2 People would like this answered

Here's the link Android Version : Developer Support

 

[J515OP]

Check... your move B&N

 

[caulktel]

Gee, I actually thought the update was coming today, but the 11th has come and gone. That's what I get for getting my hopes up over a rumor.

 

[Carbira1]

Gee, I actually thought the update was coming today, but the 11th has come and gone. That's what I get for getting my hopes up over a rumor.

The title says the week of today. That means that the rumor is going until the end of the week.

 

[bob72]

CM7 is great but the Nook reader app doesn't measure up to the stock Nook Color's reader (I am running it on a SD card and the released version blows away Honeycomb). Hopefully 2.2 B&N version will be rooted pretty soon after it is released.

 

[idontknow]

I found this article dated oct 26 2010 where the big B&N guys they are already talking about the updates we are waiting for now. Everything has been planned from the beginning.
http://technologizer.com/2010/10/26/nookcolor/# mor e-34618
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[J515OP]

Good find. Interesting to see if they stick to the plan. I really, really, really hope they release 2.2 but they have been awfully quite about it lately and don't seem to be supporting the developers with 2.2. Maybe it is just so they can pull off a big surprise although they have been promising this since the Nook Color was released just as it says in the article.

Of course as soon as 2.2 is out I know we'll all be loking forward to a B&N update to honeycomb.

 

[sholmes]

I found this article dated oct 26 2010 where the big B&N guys they are already talking about the updates we are waiting for now. Everything has been planned from the beginning.
Barnes & Noble Takes the Wraps Off of Nookcolor and Android Developers Program mor e-34618
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You have to read this article carefully. Every word that Jamie Iannone said is bracketed by quotation marks. Words about flash and 2.2 are the writer's words. I have yet to see any article where a BN official is quoted as saying it's 2.2 or flash. It's always HSN or some writer saying it.

 

[J515OP]

You have to read this article carefully. Every word that Jamie Iannone said is bracketed by quotation marks. Words about flash and 2.2 are the writer's words. I have yet to see any article where a BN official is quoted as saying it's 2.2 or flash. It's always HSN or some writer saying it.

True, but the author was clearly given a direct impression from her conversation that 2.2 was the eventual upgrade. Right or wrong her take away is definately 2.2 after other minor upgrades which we have seen.

 

[idontknow]

Well, since I believe we are going to get much more than 2.2 update, tomorrow I'll go back to stock and update manually to. 1.1..0 because I want to experience this big update , I want to wake up one morning with.flash and a well stocked app store whereI can get my apps.Hope they thought of something like set CPU or I'm going to do harakiri or karakiri (( I got to check the spelling of this Japanese way to kill yourself.) I can live without the birds!
G.

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[rokky]

You have to read this article carefully. Every word that Jamie Iannone said is bracketed by quotation marks. Words about flash and 2.2 are the writer's words. I have yet to see any article where a BN official is quoted as saying it's 2.2 or flash. It's always HSN or some writer saying it.

Well, here is what I read:

B&N is actually planning not just one, but two software upgrades over the next few months, Iannone told me. Prior to the Android 2.2 and Flash upgrade in 2011, B&N will provide a smaller upgrade some time in November, with enhancements that will include “easier page turning.”
​

That is not "bracketed by quotation marks", but direct attribution (aside from the page turning bit). I think this is a clear indication from a high-level B&N exec - "Iannone, who is B&N’s executive VP for shopping and digital" (there's some bracketing for ya - mine ) - 2.2 is on their roadmap, but it may well be there have been more detours than anticipated - trips are like that.


Let's not give up hope, but not hold our breath too long, either.

 

[sholmes]

The reporting period is through to the Saturday closest to the last day of April., so we should be seeing something about the impact of the NC in the next report due out sometime after this month.

The thread on cost shows this group has some pretty sharp minds. And rokky's note about April trigger some thoughts.
1. The CEO is relatively new - his first year on the job.
2. CEO's don't like to rock the boat especially at the close of the fiscal year. April 30 is the last day of BN's fiscal year.
3. CEO's, particularly a new one, want to show growth under his tenure.
4. CEO's in general want revenue and profit growth that surprises Wall St.
5. When in doubt, follow the money trail.

So, I ask the following:
1. why did BN offer the Nook on ebay for $200 in the last month of the fiscal year? Could it be to juice the revenue number? Maybe, maybe not? Of course not. The low price get the volume to show developers that BN has a big base? (I have a bridge for sale.)
2. If flash were in the offering, how would you handle it from a PR perspective at the end of the fiscal year?
3. If flash were not in the offering, how would you handle it?

On the geeky side, look at the nook developer forum - notice the lack of response. Now look at the job posting for bn.com. There are three openings for software engineers. Interesting - perhaps they have all been hired and just ramping up?

 

[gadgetrants]

Friendly little cross-post (crenita just started a thread: http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/nook/12866-do-you-agree-should-b-n-chg-model.html).

Why Barnes & Noble should go from bookstore to Nookstore - Fortune Tech

I thought this quote was pretty interesting:

In fact, McQuivey thinks Barnes & Noble has a better than 50% chance of making the switch to digital if it becomes even more aggressive about its Nook hardware, software, ebook and accessory business. And there is room for growth. Based on a Goldman Sachs analyst report, the Nook business is on a hockey-stick growth curve, with sales going from $62 million in 2009 (the year the device launched) to an estimated $1.163 billion for 2012. Meanwhile, the book business -- sales at brick and mortar locations -- will decrease, according to the same estimates, from $4.37 billion this year to $3.95 billion for the company's fiscal year 2012.

OK, this is analyst-talk, but what it suggests to me is that IT'S NOT STARBUCK'S coffee that's making the money, but the digital portal that's the money-maker...at least for B&N. Of course we can speculate what an "intelligent" company would do to grow that model. I'd offer a two-pronged guess:

(1) If B&N evolves toward a focus on digital, then I'd assume they are concentrating REAL HARD on the Nook right now. It's "s*&^ or get off the pot time," as my mother used to say. That should make this an interesting year, and I'd definitely be looking forward to an NC2.

(2) I'd also guess that they'd put an even stronger choke-hold on the device (a la Apple) to better control the flow of media through it. Kind of like the evolution of the Droid: first gen = carefree and freewheeling, second gen = not so much (e.g,. locked bootloaders).

-Matt