Pandigital SuperNova hopes to grab low end tablets

Pandigital hoped to raise the bar on starter tablet e-readers with a Friday unveiling for the SuperNova. The eight-inch tablet is still rare in the class for having a capacitive touchscreen and has a 4:3, 800x600 aspect ratio that suits magazines and newspapers. To fully customize the OS, it uses the most basic version of Android 2.3 and doesn't have the official Android Market, although it does have GetJar's app store as well as preloaded access to Barnes & Noble's bookstore and Flash.

The reader has 4GB of built-in storage and a microSDHC slot to take more. Although it has Bluetooth and a micro HDMI video out, it's slower than the smaller Amazon Kindle Fire in having an acceptable but single-core 1GHz processor. Its interface is potentially more powerful for general use in veering closer to stock than the heavily customized Amazon interface.

Stores should start carrying the SuperNova in mid-October and offer it for $229.

By Electronista Staff