It’s been a few days since early users figured out how to root the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ tablets. So what’s next on the to-do list? Installing the Google Play Store.
B&N’s tablets ship with a highly customized version of Google Android, and they use the NOOK Shop for apps, books, and other content. But Google’s store has a much wider selection of apps, and if you want to access that store on the latest NOOK tablets, you’ll need to jump through some hoops.
Fortunately, someone0 has posted a guide.
In a nutshell, you need to root your tablet, enable support for apps from unknown sources, push Google’s play store and services framework apps to your device, and then set the file permissions so that your NOOK HD or NOOK HD+ can use those apps properly.
It sounds simple… but it’s a 20-step process when you write the whole thing out, and not the kind of thing I’d recommend doing unless you have some experience hacking other Android tablets.
Still, it’s nice to have the option.
The B&N NOOK HD features a 7 inch, 1440 x 900 pixel display and a 1.3 GHz TI OMAP 4470 processor, while the larger NOOK HD+ has a 9 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel screen and a faster 1.5 GHz OMAP 4470 processor. They’re pretty nice pieces of hardware for their respective starting prices of $199 and $269, respectively.