Pandigital Novel Firmware Update Boosts Beleaguered Tablet

Pandigital promised to address their Novel tablet's issues with some tweaked software, and it seems the time has finally come.  Nate from The Digital Reader spotted a new firmware update for the Novel, and the good news is that it turns it into a reasonable Android tablet.  The bad news, though, is that as an ereader it still lags behind the nook and Kindle.  Touchscreen responsiveness – after a couple of hard-resets – is much improved, as is WiFi stability, but page turns in the Reader and Library apps are still too slow.

Meanwhile the accelerometer now works properly, turning the Novel in all four orientations, and the browser is "reasonably fast".  Still, given the price Nate is still leaning toward a nook if you want something primarily for ebook reading.  If your tastes are more general, though, this could be the software that turns the Novel from a nice idea into a decent buy.