Kobo quietly launches Vox Android tablet with 7-inch display, Gingerbread, $200 price tag

Canadian retailer Future Shop gave us an accidental sneak peek at the tablet last month, but now Kobo is making Vox official, complete with a 7-inch 1024 x 600 resolution AFFS+ display with multi-touch, a 7-hour battery and 8 gigs of internal memory with support for up to 32GB of SD storage. The $200 tablet is running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and is powered by an 800 MHz processor and 512MB of RAM. There’s also a built-in speaker and 3.5mm headphone jack, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and a variety of pre-loaded apps (naturally you’ll have access to Android Market as well). Vox is listed as in-stock on Kobo’s online store, though you’ll have to wait until October 28th for yours to ship. It’ll also be available at Best Buy and Fry’s Electronics stores in the U.S., and Best Buy, Future Shop and Indigo in Canada. Jump past the break for the PR from Kobo.

[Thanks, Mankie]

Continue reading Kobo quietly launches Vox Android tablet with 7-inch display, Gingerbread, $200 price tag

Kobo quietly launches Vox Android tablet with 7-inch display, Gingerbread, $200 price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kindle 3 gets software upgrade, ready to soar into the cloud

Amazon has pushed out a new update for the Kindle 3, now operating under the alias of the Kindle Keyboard. This gives the well-buttoned e-reader access to some of the cloud features found on its freshly unboxed younger brother, and includes the ability to view any archived documents, notes and highlights you’ve added to that intangible pile of books and articles. You’ll need to tether the Kindle to your PC, point your browser towards Amazon, and download the file corresponding to the right region and model. Excitable annotators can grab the upgrade now at the source link below.

Kindle 3 gets software upgrade, ready to soar into the cloud originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 Oct 2011 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Velocity Micro Cruz T408 review

It’s no secret that the market for Android tablets is crowded – and getting more so every day. Just ask Samsung, Acer, HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, Pandigital and, oh yes, Verticool. We could keep going, but you get the point: it’s a big market out there, one with wildly varying prices and features. And just recently a little company called Amazon made its move in a big way with the Kindle Fire, an Android-powered $199 portal to its corner of the cloud. The world’s largest online retailer clearly thinks competing on price is a way to stand out from the pack. Velocity Micro, maker of the 8-inch Cruz T408, wholeheartedly agrees. It’s coming to market with a $199 slate, hoping to capture some attention of its own. Can it succeed? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Velocity Micro Cruz T408 review

Velocity Micro Cruz T408 review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pandigital Supernova available mid-October for $230, is an eReader in Android tablet disguise

Pandigital hasn’t made much of an effort to swathe its Supernova tab in mystery. When the 8-inch LCD slate swept through the FCC earlier this summer, we were privy not only to images of the device and its internals, but also to the apps that’d be pre-loaded on purchase — GetJar and Barnes & Noble’s Nook app amongst others. So, what can you expect for $230 when it lands this month? Well, the company’s forsaken Honeycomb for the soon-to-be outclassed Gingerbread OS, tossed in a single-core 1GHz A8 processor, 4GB of storage (expandable to 32GB via microSD slot), WiFi and Bluetooth. It’s a cheap, me too Android tablet entry, for sure. And with the recent outing of a certain budget-priced, ecosystem-friendly tab, we might suggest you hold off for the higher-specced goods. Official PR after the break.

Continue reading Pandigital Supernova available mid-October for $230, is an eReader in Android tablet disguise

Pandigital Supernova available mid-October for $230, is an eReader in Android tablet disguise originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ad-supported Kindle 4 has built-in $30 “upgrade”, gets rid of embedded special offers

Was it too cheap? Well, here’s some great news for fourth-generation Kindle users already tiring of its embedded ads looking cheap alongside their Vertu phones. You can now pay Amazon the requisite fee and unsubscribe from built-in advertising and offers. Visit the Manage your Kindle webpage and you can edit your subscriptions for the newest entry-level e-reader. There seems to be no option, however, to do the reverse just yet. Would Amazon hand over $30 to push those special offers into our currently ad-free Kindle?

Ad-supported Kindle 4 has built-in $30 “upgrade”, gets rid of embedded special offers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 05:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boogie Rip eWriting pad stylus-on (video)


Hey, remember that new product from Improv Electronics that we told you about yesterday? We managed to sneak in some time with the device today at IFA, and we have to say, we like what we see. The Rip (that’s “Record. Image. Preserve.”) is the latest addition to the Boogie eWriter line, devices that let you scribble notes and drawings and can be wiped away with the press of a button (think a more legible Etch A Sketch). The Rip ups the ante with the addition of a microUSB port, which lets you transfer notes as PDFs to your computer.

Improv was careful to point out that the device is currently in prototype mode, so we won’t hold too much again the company for the product’s plasticy feel — though, if its predecessor is any indication, the final version likely won’t be too far from this one, and the company confirmed that the final version will have the same charcoal color. And while the product is indeed plasticy, it certainly feels sturdy. More after the break.

Continue reading Boogie Rip eWriting pad stylus-on (video)

Boogie Rip eWriting pad stylus-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon’s @author lets you tweet, pester your favorite writers via Kindle

If the Amazon Kindle’s passage-sharing Twitter integration wasn’t social enough for you, the outfit just unleashed a new option: @author. The new feature uses Twitter as a springboard to connect writers to their fans, giving users a chance to nitpick their favorite authors line-by-line. If you’ve ever shared a quote using the Kindle, you know the drill: highlight some text and type out your tweet — just make sure you preface it with the @author marker. This limited beta is launching with only a handful of writers, but between Robert “Rich Dad” Kiyosaki and Brad “Identity Crisis” Meltzer, we’re sure you can find something to ask.

Amazon’s @author lets you tweet, pester your favorite writers via Kindle originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hands-on with the Sony Reader Wi-Fi (video)

The Sony Reader doesn’t have all that large a presence here in the States, where the market is largely dominated by Amazon, and, to a lesser extent, Barnes & Noble. The Sony Reader Wi-Fi does go a ways toward keeping up with the competition, offering up WiFi (as advertised), an infrared touchscreen, and the Pearl E-Ink display seen on past versions. The hardware is nice, though it doesn’t feel quite as natural in the hand as the Nook or Kobo — it did indeed feel light, as advertised, though it’s hard to get a final judgement, seeing as how the demo product on the show room floor was all wired up. The software also zips along quite nicely, and pinch to zoom functionality is certainly a welcome addition in the e-reader market. Unlike many other Sony Readers, the thing also does well for itself pricewise, at $149. Hands-on video after the break.

Continue reading Hands-on with the Sony Reader Wi-Fi (video)

Hands-on with the Sony Reader Wi-Fi (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon grabs two more Kindle related domains, keeps gadget writers in work

Amazon is sending book-loving gadget fans into a frenzy with another round of domain name buys. It registered KindleScribe and KindleScribes.com to go along with the KindleAir and KindleSocialNetwork addresses it picked up earlier this month. All that’s left to do is speculate wildly on what they could represent (Thin and light e-reader? Tablet-style touchscreen? Kindle that comes pre-loaded with the Social Network?) and hope the new devices come packing Jeff’s newly patented mobile airbags.

Amazon grabs two more Kindle related domains, keeps gadget writers in work originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble offers back to school Nook deal, adds more to your reading list

Thinking about getting an e-reader before you head back to school this fall? Barnes & Noble surely hopes so, and to sweeten the deal it’s offering 12 free classics along with study guides and apps if you register your freshly unboxed Nook before October 31st. That’s right folks, over $100 worth of e-books can be yours with the purchase of the new Nook, the Nook Color or even the first edition Nook. While it must be said that most of the available titles are out of copyright and so are already available for free download elsewhere (we’re looking at you, Gutenberg.org), you can at least select from a dozen Spark Notes of time-consuming reads such as War and Peace. So if you’re looking to take a break from all that Organic Chemistry mumbo jumbo, you can catch up on A Tale of Two Cities in your spare time.

Barnes & Noble offers back to school Nook deal, adds more to your reading list originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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