Hasta La Gadget!

Here are some facts we know about this subject:

• This is a tablet called the Multimedia Novel, built by Pandigital.
• It’s very much like another Multimedia Novel tablet Pandigital sells at CVS for $214, except now it’s $280 because there’s a 3G radio inside.
• We really disliked the 7-inch version.
• It’s on AT&T but it’s contract free — you pay as you go.
• The 9-inch screen is resistive, which sucks even if there’s contract free AT&T on it. That’s just our opinion, though.
• Android 2.0 is the OS.
• Barnes & Noble’s Nookbook Store is pre-loaded.
• You can’t access the Android Market by default.
• There’s an unspecified 800MHz ARM11 processor running everything. It’s probably slow.
• The 800 x 480 resolution will probably make your eyes bleed at this size.
• But hey, it’s cheap.

Continue reading Pandigital’s Multimedia Novel gets AT&T 3G, still cheap

Pandigital’s Multimedia Novel gets AT&T 3G, still cheap originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble Nook trademark applications offer speculation fodder aplenty originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You had to know the hacking community was going to have a field day with the Nook Color — a $249 Android Tablet hiding behind with a thin e-reader coating. Indeed it didn’t take long to get rooted nor for Android 2.2 to get installed on there, but that particular hack comes with an interesting potential side-effect: small-scale thermonuclear explosions. Enabling FroYo requires disabling the device’s battery monitoring process, the very one that would be responsible for shutting down the device before the cells start overheating and, ultimately, going critical. Yeah it’s unlikely, but it could happen. Meanwhile, another hack has enabled the Android Market, but those instructions begin with a very daunting warning: “Very smart people have failed at this. If the following instructions confuse you, you might want to wait until an easier method has been developed.”

And, thankfully, there might be a much easier way coming, with Barnes & Noble reportedly telling Smartphone Mag that Android 2.2 will be officially coming to the Nook Color in January. Yes, Android 2.3 is what’s happening, but this is still an exciting upgrade as it will finally also allow access to a traditional Android home screen and even enable the Android Market.

Update: Okay, cancel that order for an asbestos carrying case. One of the developers of the Nook Color root wrote in to let us know that there is a secondary temperature monitor which should keep things below the ignition point. Hack away — or just wait a month.

Update 2: Barnes & Noble PR just got back to us to reiterate that Nook Color’s own shop will begin adding apps in early 2011 and that there are currently no plans to enable Android Market. Move along, nothing to see here, folks.

[Thanks, Ryan]

Nook Color getting Android 2.2 and Market in January, current hacks could make it blow up? (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It took me a while, but I’m starting to fall in love with my iPad in a way I haven’t loved a gadget for a long while. There’s something about the form factor, the apps, the OS that feels just right and makes me want to do as much of my daily computing on it as possible. Of course, that’s still a pretty small sliver of my overall day, and the iPad isn’t even close to replacing my laptop for the large majority of my work, but I’m finding myself increasingly doing casual browsing, casual gaming, serious writing, and, yes, even some reading on Apple’s 10-inch tablet.

But I have one “big” problem with the tablet that doesn’t look like it’ll be solved anytime soon: it’s not 7 inches. Will Apple ever eat its words and build a smaller iPad, or will the 7-inch form factor be left to the rest of the emerging tablet market to fight over?

Continue reading Editorial: My next iPad won’t be a 7-incher, but I wish it could be

Editorial: My next iPad won’t be a 7-incher, but I wish it could be originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Those wily shoppers at QVC have beaten the world once again in securing an exclusive on Pandigital’s 9-inch Novel tablet. You’ll recall that we weren’t exactly overwhelmed with joy after handling the 7-inch Novel, and sadly this new slate looks like nothing more than a growth spurt, bringing as it does the same resistive touchscreen, B&N ebook store access, 2GB of integrated storage, and 802.11b/g WiFi highlights. Admittedly, QVC throws in a 4GB microSD card and prices it at an affordable $214, but we’re always wary of Android devices that neglect to state which version of the OS they’re running. Hit up the source link if you’re more courageous — or if you just want to watch the longest infomercial of your life.

Pandigital’s 9-inch Novel now on sale… as a QVC exclusive originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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