After all, it does get hyped as the biggest selling tablet in the U.S. But seriously the Nook Color, whose latest incarnation was outed a few days ago, is susceptible to an exotic re-tool method called rooting. The Nook Color is currently stuck with Froyo. Rooting enthusiasts who want to juice their Nook’s OS however, can learn how to upgrade the humble (but ever impressive) reader to Honeycomb.

Of course, the single great benefit of rooting a Nook Color are the apps that become available via a different OS. If you’re itching to find out how this is done, and why you should do it, just read on.

For those interested in this hack, it’s strongly advised they take full advantage of internet sources (an example) that give instructions and tips. The whole process of rooting actually involves a precise reconfigure of the Nook Color’s microSD card, which is its primary boot device. The big transformation is when you reflash the micro SD card’s ROM, thereby allowing a change of OS from the original Android 2.3 to Android 2.3.x. Here’s a more detailed enumeration of how to pull it off:

“To root a Nook Color, you have to download the Auto-Nooter system image, write it to a microSD card, and then boot the Nook Color with the SD card inserted. The Auto-Nooter image basically just bootstraps the system and runs and a script that makes the desired modifications to the Nook’s internal file system and then installs some Android packages.”

Again, the above is but a mere glimpse into a rather sensitive process. For best results, research, research, research. There’s a whole community of rooters out there willing to spread the faith.

Be warned though. Rooting your Nook Color risks voiding the warranty. So if you want to try this without the benefit of a long personal hacking history, it’s best to have a knowledgeable companion around. At lest when worst comes to worst, you can share the guilt.

On the other hand, a successful root means the Nook Color not only functions as a very nice e-reader, but can be used as a media consumption device par excellence. Think movies, music, and even GPS navigation. The whole package.

Source: ZDNet