Hasta La Gadget!

We did bring you word about the existence of the Kobo Arc 7 HD and Kobo Arc 10 HD at the end of August, and here we are, nearing the end of October, with word that both tablets have already made their way over to the FCC for approval. That can only mean one thing upon approval, that both devices are well on their way to hit store shelves. Majority of the details on the FCC site do seem to be concerned about regulatory tests that touch on the wireless capabilities of the tablets, although it is also not rare to find other interesting bit of details such as user manuals which are equipped with useful drawings and diagrams that depict just how you would do things such as to turn the tablet off, to enable airplane mode, or adjust other settings. Elementary stuff, really.

Just to refresh our memories, the Kobo Arc 10 HD happens to be a decent performer on paper, with a 10.1” 2560 x 1600 pixel display, an NVIDIA Tegra 4 quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of internal memory, and up to 9.5 hours of battery life, carrying an expected price tag of $400. As for the Kobo Arc 7 HD tablet, it does seem to be geared more towards the budget oriented bunch, sporting a $199 price tag with a 7” 1920 x 1200 pixel display, an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, and anywhere from 16GB to 32GB of internal memory.

Kobo Arc 7 HD And Kobo Arc 10 HD Make FCC Appearance original content from Ubergizmo.

Love the Kobo ecosystem, but hoping for a tablet that’s a little… higher end than what the Arc line currently offers? Boy have we got some news for you. The company introduced a grand total of three new tablets at today’s event in New York City, and here’s the crown jewel, the 10-inch Arc 10HD. Compared to the offerings we’ve seen from other e-reader makers, this thing really is a beast. It’s also a pretty nice piece of hardware with a solid build. The front of the slate is all screen, plus a glossy, flush bezel that also houses the device’s one webcam, a 1.3-megapixel offering that can also shoot 720p.

On the top of the fairly thin and light device, you’ll find Kobo’s standard red power button. On the right side is a volume rocker and along the left is a headphone jack, micro-HDMI and micro USB ports. On the back are two speaker grills, which didn’t put out enough power to be heard over the event’s music. There’s also some subtle angular design language borrowed from the Aura HD on the sides of the otherwise flat soft touch back.

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We suspect that Kobo won’t be too thrilled about us mentioning the Vox tablet in the introduction to its latest product announcement. All companies have their share of misfires, but that one left us seriously questioning whether the e-reader manufacturer really belonged in the tablet space in the first place. The company set things right with the Kobo Arc, scrapping the Vox line and starting anew. At the end end of the day, however, that seven-inch device left us wondering precisely what void the slate intended to fill in a market overrun with budget tablets. The company thinks it has the answer this time around, building a tablet aimed specifically at its user base of hardcore readers. In fact, the company is so confident in that potential space that it’s created not one but three new devices to cater to that need.

It’s certainly not something Amazon’s Fire line has sought to address, with devices that are more interested in the broader multimedia experience. And while Barnes & Noble has put some effort into reading on its Nook Tablet line, the future of those devices are in question. Kobo would no doubt be among the first to admit that, for those truly hardcore readers out there, a tablet just can’t match the experience of a devoted E Ink device, but the company has taken some great pains here to offer the best possible experience on this class of device. For starters, that means limiting distractions — a refreshing move in a world of infinite displays, we’ll admit. CEO Michael Serbinis suggested that (aside from the fact that tablets are less forgiving on the eye than e-readers), the reason people aren’t reading as much on the devices is due in part to the many other things (movies, music, web browsing, et cetera) we can be doing on them.

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Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

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When Kobo released the Vox, its first tablet, Engadget had just recently abolished review scores. In retrospect, that was a good thing for the company, as we didn’t have very many nice things to say about it. The product suffered from short battery life, for one, along with sluggish performance and WiFi connectivity issues. It’s no wonder, then, that Kobo is loathe to call its new Arc tablet a “follow-up” to the Vox so much as a “re-thinking.” The tablet, which will go on sale in mid-November starting at $199, brings a faster 1.5GHz TI processor, a battery rated for 10 to 12 hours of runtime and a re-tooled software experience built on Ice Cream Sandwich. Is that enough to unseat the new Kindle Fire HD or the Nexus 7? That, friends, is a question best answered in our forthcoming review, but after a few minutes of hands-on time we can at least say that we’re pleasantly surprised. Meet us past the break to find out why.

Continue reading Kobo Arc tablet hands-on (video)

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Kobo Arc tablet hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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