Want to hack your Pandigital Novel but don’t feel like rooting the device? Well, now you can gain access to the command line by simply overwriting the existing home screen.
The above-mentioned process was successfully implemented by Nate of Digital Reader, who managed to install a number of third-party apps – including Aldiko, Kindle, Fictionwise and Kobo – on his Android-powered e-reader.
“I didn’t go all the way and actually root the Novel. Instead I stopped after I installed a replacement home screen so I could run other apps. [But] I had trouble finding a home screen that I could download,” Nate explained.
“For the most part they are only in the Marketplace and I don’t have access. Eventually I found Panda Home, and it seems to be working okay. [And] installing apps on the Novel requires the use of the command line but the process is relatively easy.”
According to Nate, the hack enables accelerated page turn speeds with third-party apps, such as Aldiko or Kindle.
“General responsiveness has also improved. I’m a lot happier with the Novel now that crappy original software has been bypassed. It turns out that it does have decent hardware specs,” he added.
However, Brad Linder of Lilliputing cautioned that there were a “few catches” to effectively hacking the device.
“[For example], right now there’s no way to access the Google Android Market, which means you’ll have to manually download apk installer files for each app. You’ll [also] need to apply a few hacks to get things working properly.
“[And] bear in mind, the Pandigital Novel has a relatively sluggish CPU which was really just meant to power an eBook reader, so don’t be surprised if some of the animations and other visual elements look a bit slow.”
Instruction on hacking the Pandigital Novel can be found here.
