The Pandigital Novel is an eBook reader that costs $179 off the shelf. It has a large 7 inch colour touchscreen and runs Google Android in the background that has a custom software interface on the top for reading eBooks.
Someone has managed to bypass the custom software to access Android direct which makes the eReader in to a nice 7 inch Android OS tablet.
Once the custom software is bypassed it allows apps to be installed such as the Amazon Kindle App and other eBook reader apps. Also it allows you to install games and most other apps that you can think of.
The downside to installing apps is that you cannot access the Market Place meaning that apps need to be manually installed from the apk insaller files.
…you’ll need to apply a few hacks to get things working properly. That includes installing a third party home screen so you have access to the program launcher and a hack that lets you use the volume buttons as if they were Menu and Back buttons ” since the Novel doesn’t actually have dedicated buttons for those frequently-used Android functions.
Details of how to hack the eBook reader can be found over here.
Liliputing points out that the eReader does have a slow processor due to the unit being designed to read eBooks. This means that some apps will run slow and that transitions might not be as good on this device.
Check out the video below to see it running…
Impressive. I love the eBook Reader, and I love Android. To have Android as a Tablet would be awesome. Thank you so much for this; I really appreciate it. Since last month, I have been an eBook fan. I came across a website, booksonboard.com, and figured I might as well purchase like one or two titles to see how I would like the experience. It was phenomenal! I really love the fact that everything is just so convenient with eBooks. I know I won’t be going anywhere for a whle.