Pandigital intros 7-inch Novel e-reader, nabs access to B&N eBookstore
By Darren Murph 
posted May 24th 2010 8:00AM
posted May 24th 2010 8:00AM
Pandigital Novel eReader Premieres; First Model Sports 7-inch Color Multimedia Display
Integrated Barnes & Noble eBookstore gives customers access to shop and enjoy eBooks, magazines and newspapers conveniently and instantly;
Touch-screen design, built-in Wi-Fi provide on-the-go enjoyment
Dublin, Calif., May 24, 2010 – Pandigital, the U.S. leader in digital photo frames, today enters the eReader market with its first offering: the Pandigital Novel, a 7-inch eReader with integrated Barnes & Noble eBookstore, full color touch-screen display, Wi-Fi connectivity, and multimedia capabilities that make it the ideal travel companion.
Pandigital has partnered with Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, to power the eBookstore on the Pandigital Novel eReader. Pandigital Novel customers will have easy access to Barnes & Noble's expansive eBookstore catalog of more than one million eBooks, newspapers and magazines, a wide variety of free eBooks and more than half a million free classics. Seamlessly integrated into the Pandigital Novel interface, users will find that it is incredibly convenient and simple to browse, sample, buy, download in seconds and access digital content from the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, as well as from their personal Barnes & Noble digital library. Pandigital Novel customers will also be able to take advantage of advanced features including Barnes & Noble's breakthrough LendMe™ technology which allows users to share many eBooks with friends and family for 14 days.
The Pandigital Novel 7-inch Color Multimedia eReader has a vibrant full color TFT LCD display that lets reading enthusiasts enjoy books and periodicals displayed in personalized bookshelves with full-color book covers and original color photos. The full-color 800 x 600 resolution and edge-to-edge glass screen also lets Pandigital customers thoroughly enjoy their digital photos in a virtual album as well as watch video on the go. The responsive touch-screen paired with an intuitive user interface is easy to navigate and control, so moving through applications, finding great digital content in the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, and browsing the web are all incredibly straightforward.
"First and foremost, the Pandigital Novel eReader was designed to deliver a world-class e-reading experience," said Dean Finnegan, CEO and founder, Pandigital. "By focusing on delivering superior content from Barnes & Noble, an easy-to-use design and an excellent customer experience, Pandigital is delivering a value proposition not currently available in the eReader category. With its many additional features, Pandigital Novel customers will be able to read what they want and do more of what they want on the go with an affordable product that is simple and fun to use."
"We're proud to offer Pandigital Novel customers simple and integrated access to our vast Barnes & Noble eBookstore to help them discover and enjoy a wide array of eBooks and periodicals," said Chris Peifer, Vice President of Business Development, Barnes & Noble.com. "Pandigital Novel users can easily access their existing Barnes & Noble digital content and enjoy sharing a wide variety of eBooks with friends through innovative LendMe technology – whether or not those friends have a dedicated eBook reader."
Reading – Just More Fun
Designed with convenience features that help reading enthusiasts get the most out of their eBooks and periodicals, the Pandigital Novel lets customers, with a simple touch of the screen, search for word meanings using the built-in dictionary, review past references with word searches, and make notes with the virtual keyboard. In addition, customers can highlight important text, create multiple bookmarks, and change the font size for optimum viewing.
The Pandigital Novel 7-inch Color Multimedia eReader was designed to be enjoyed on the go; it features a compact, sleek design that measures 5.5" (w) x 7.5" (h) x 0.5" (d) and weighs only 16 ounces. Saving, storing, and transferring unlimited eBooks (as well as music, video, or image files) is easy with the full 1GB of memory that can house hundreds of books, as well as expandable storage provided by its SD/MMC memory card slot (supporting up to 32GB cards). Also, the Pandigital Novel provides a long battery life of up to six hours in reading mode thanks to its rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
Other usability features make it more convenient for reading in a range of environments. For example, the orientation sensor automatically adjusts between portrait and landscape mode when the device is tilted, while night-read mode inverts the text and background colors for more discrete viewing. Plus, the Pandigital Novel looks great in the home and on the go; it has a white chassis with a white stand for secure placement on a desk or table.
The new Pandigital Novel eReader supports a number of eBook formats including PDF, EPUB, and HTML, so customers that already have their own personal collection can still enjoy them. The built-in mini-USB port provides another option for easy transfer of files between the device and a computer (Mac and PC compatible).
Incredibly Useful All-in-One Device for Fun & Connectivity
The Pandigital Novel 7-inch Color Multimedia eReader lets consumers enjoy their favorite music, photos, and video wherever they go. When connected to the Internet utilizing the built-in Wi-Fi module and any home or public Wi-Fi hotspot, the Pandigital Novel also lets customers run a variety of connected applications. Using the powerful and flexible combination of the Android operating system and an ARM 11 Mobile processor, this Pandigital Novel has a built-in, full web browser so users can quickly go online to update social media sites and check out recent news, events and weather. The built-in email application lets customers conveniently stay in touch. Photo and video files are rich in color and detail, while the built-in audio player lets consumers enjoy their music from virtually anywhere. The Pandigital Novel 7-inch Color Multimedia eReader also has additional convenience features including a built-in appointment calendar and alarm clock.
Availability, Price and Warranty
The Pandigital Novel 7-inch Color Multimedia eReader (model number PRD07T10WWH7) is affordably priced at a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of $199.99 and is backed by a one year limited warranty. It will be available at several national retailers beginning in June.
The demo model had a resistive touchscreen. If the final model ships with that, it won't have the smoothness of the iPad. But the price is certainly appealing.
There's a short review of the Novel here with some additional details and a short video: http://www.techlicious.com/blog/pandigital-novel-a-color-ebook-reader-that-run-android-apps/.
@joshk
Finally a colored one, when I just started to give up hope.
@ZeCoder Don't be fooled. You say "finally a colored one" as if this was an advancement over e-ink instead of giant step backwards to what people used before e-ink came out. Reading on an LCD still sucks, regardless of what Steve Jobs pretends. There is a reason e-readers didn't exist before e-ink, the same reason that those of us who used to read ebooks on color screen PDAs switched to the Kindle. Unless you just look at the pictures, color is not nearly as important as a comfortable screen to read on, which is where LCDs fail.
Real color e-ink will be out by next year though, so if you want color, keep waiting and don't be tricked by a giant PDA in all its 2003-era screen technology glory.
@joshk If you read the release, it says a glass screen. That usually means capacitive, does it not?
@Yandereboat Positive it's resistive. I think the review was just using "glass" as a generic term for the LCD screen, not the actual material.
This is very interesting. I might just buy one for my sister!
@hero785 Why do you hate her?
The Problem is, that a lot of tech blogs do not point out how stupid it is to use a LCD for an e-reader. Instead of "Because of it's LCD-Screen this device fails if you really try to use it as an e-reade." you read stuff like "The Libary-App looks wonderfull, like an filled bookshelve (wow... lets patent it...) and if you flip a page it looks like flipping a page (wow... already a patent), wonderfull, let me taste your a**h**e..."
@user47alpha I use the iPad as an ereader. The LCD screen is fine indoors and much better than eInk for anything that incorporates color (e.g., children's books or magazines/newspapers). Outdoors, eInk devices, like Kindle, work better.
@joshk
I hate it when people keep saying that LCDs on these tablet is bad for your eyes. Hell, we're all doing this on a computer and spend most of our days looking at computer monitors!
Plus, there is a super low brightness setting on the iPad, so stop complaining.
@joshk
I think the issue isn't so much the clarity of the screen, there's no doubt that LCD screens look good and clear. The issue is that e-ink is popular in e-readers for 2 reasons: gentle on the eyes for prolonged reading and excellent battery life. An LCD based device is going to fall down on both of those criteria.
As for the Novel, it's really more like the iPad than it is like the Kindle, IMHO. Marketing it as an e-reader may be missing the point a bit. With a capacitive screen (or just a more responsive resistive one), it might actually be worth a look.
@bravokiloromeo
We use them all day, but not to read long passages of text. Reading a book on an LCD screen is not a pleasurable experience, and doing it on a bus is worse. E-ink is a limited technology, but it does have that advantage.
Where the hell is Pixel Qi already btw?
@joshk
And one day, there might just be *one* device that's excellent as both an indoor and outdoor e-reader...sigh.
@user47alpha
thanks for the reminder but she'll be using it mainly indoors. OR maybe just get a kindle or nook
@bravokiloromeo
Yes I work on LCD for 8 hours a day, but only if I can take my eyes out every 10 - 15 minute for 2-3 minute away. Otherwise they hurt like !@#%@#. I don't want to do it while reading book. So yeah it's possible to read on LCD, but many people don't like to.
@bravokiloromeo Lol, I have an X41T with a very nice anti-glare LCD and the formfactor of an ebook-reader. Nevertheless, in the last 3 years I never thought about reading a book or a longer pdf on it just for fun. A can a ereading-device which is only working indoors be a good ereading-device? It's like a cellphone which only works with a landline around...
@bravokiloromeo I wasn't complaining about LCDs. Re-read my post, I was supporting LCDs as good solutions for eReaders (except in bright light outdoors). Did you mean to reply to someone else?
Looks promising. Can't wait to get more review on the device!
The only reason the iPad is an acceptable e reader is...well actually it's NOT an acceptable e reader, it's only worth it for the bevy of apps and non book media consumption, it CAN read books, but only because well why not?
I would be fuming if someone got me this as a gift...
Personally, I wouldn't beat up on this as an LCD ereader. Based on it's specs, I would say it's more along the lines of a cheap ipad.
Not to mention, as soon as someone hacks it to run plain android 2.2, then you've got an apps running tablet that is certainly MUCH cheaper then an iPad. Not to mention weighs less.
@Showbiz Holy crap this is awesome. If it's executed well this is a choice machine.
Thank you Pandigital.
@Showbiz This has an ARM11 processor with an unknown graphics chip right now, so apps would perform poorly. If they have an upgraded version with at least a 600MHz A8 like the Droid for say $250, then it would be something to think about.
I can't believe someone typed "it's not as smooth as the iPad" .... It's a $200 unit and a book reader ....why would one expect it to be as smooth as the iPad?
I wonder if the Kindle app for Android will work on this thing.
The battery life kills it. 15 hours should be the minimum, even though it may be difficult, I'm sure there's some tricks to getting it there.
I'll wait for e-color ink.
We need pixel qi damnit...
nice one . but can you draw on it with a pen /???????
Optometrists everywhere are excited by this.
Doesn't matter how great it is, horrific battery life.
200 bucks is a good buy...but I am going to continue to hold out for a color e-ink reader. It shouldn't be more then a year or 2...so I'll just keep my mag subscriptions going until that day.