Hasta La Gadget!

So we’ve already spent some hands-on time with Kobo’s Aura e-reader and the Arc 10HD. That leaves two more devices, right? Well, here’s the thing — as much as the 10-inch tablet wasn’t ready in time for tonight’s event, the company at least managed to trot it out. As for the seven-inchers, well, the Arc 7HD didn’t show, and while the Arc 7 was here, the slate was running a constant demo, meaning we couldn’t take it through its paces. As for the hardware? On the face of it, the tablet looks a fair bit like the original Kindle Fire and a number of other seven-inch rectangular tablets. On the top is the standard red Kobo power button, on the right side of the device is a volume rocker and on the left are the headphone jack, micro-HDMI and microUSB ports.

Like its bigger brother, the soft touch rear of the device has borrowed some of the angular design language from the Aura HD around the corners. On the bottom, you’ll find a single speaker grille. All three of Kobo’s new tablets are set to launch on October 16th — we’re sure we’ll be able to spend a bit more time with this guy before then. When it does land, it’ll run you $150, with its HD sibling starting at $200.%Gallery-slideshow73876%

Filed under: Tablets

Comments

Strange, but until now, if you were aching for a Kobo reader, the company’s site would redirect you to a third-party like Best Buy or select independent booksellers. The tablet / e-reader maker has finally opened up direct sales of devices like the Kobo Glo, Mini and Arc directly through its site to interested parties in Canada and the US. Of course, if you’re so inclined, you can still buy those products and a number of accessories through the aforementioned partner sites. There’s a press release after the break to help you decide.

Filed under: Tablets

Comments

It looks like the Kobo Arc (Model K107) has hit the FCC just in time for its November launch. Not much else is gleaned from the filing, but judging from our earlier hands-on, the Arc is not to be ignored. The 7-inch ICS tablet brings a 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4470 processor to the table, along with 10-12 hour rated battery life, a 1,280 x 800 resolution IPS display, a 1.3-megapixel front camera (sorry, no lens on the rear) and a custom UI that the company hopes will elevate it above the increasingly crowded tablet space. Starting at $199, it’ll face stiff competition from the likes of the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD, but maybe the Arc’s combination of a low price point and Google certification will win it a few add-to-cart clicks.

Filed under: Tablets

Kobo Arc tablet hits the FCC, just in time for stocking-stuffing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Nov 2012 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments

The world of tablets is not really that complicated if you were to break it down in terms of the operating system – there is either Android or iOS, where the BlackBerry PlayBook is negligible, although the release of Microsoft’s Surface tablets later this year might just change the tablet landscape somewhat. It is either an iPad or an Android-powered tablet, where the latter certainly has plenty of options for you to choose from. One of the players would be Kobo, and their latest Kobo Arc 7” tablet certainly looks as though it is shaping up to be an affordable and fun device to carry around.

For starters, this 7” tablet will run on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Not exactly the newest version, but at least it is not that backward, either. Available later this November, you will be able to choose from 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. Kobo decided to approach the Arc’s design by taking a new and innovative outlook, intending to change the traditional tablet experience from searching within apps to an immersive content platform coupled with its unique interface known as Tapestries. You can now have more choice than ever before in exploring, saving and experiencing the music, movies, eBooks, and webpages that you love.

Wayne White, General Manager of Devices, Kobo, said, “We designed the Kobo Arc to let people focus on the music, eBooks, movies, website and applications they love rather than on the hardware they hold in their hand – though that is amazingly designed as well. We’ve accomplished this by offering consumers more – more storage, more customization, more choice – all in the powerful, attractive and vivid Android 4.0 Kobo Arc.”

Hardware specifications of the Kobo Arc include a 1.5GHz OMAP 4470 dual-core processor, up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge, boasting a 7″ high-definition display with 178 degree viewing angles, 215 pixels/inch and 1280 x 800 resolution with 16-million colors, tipping the scales at 364 grams. Its form factor is also easy to hold in the palm of your hand, where it features front-facing stereo speakers with SRS TruMedia sound, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a built-in microphone, and 802.11 WiFi connectivity, not to mention Google Play support.

You will be able to pick up the Kobo Arc in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities at while retailing for $199.99, $249.99 and $299.99, respectively. Pre-orders can be placed from this fall onwards, where you can pick it up from stores later this November.

Press Release

[ Kobo Arc comes in three storage options copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

You know the idiom of reading someone like a book – well, the same can be said of the Kobo Arc, except that its choice of reading material is you, the owner. Yes sir, we said that right, the Kobo Arc is a 7″ Android-powered eReader that will definitely tread upon the hallowed ground of the Google Nexus 7 as well as the Amazon Kindle Fire, although chances are we will get a look at a newer generation Kindle Fire later this morning. But I digress – what does the Kobo Arc have to offer that will make it stand out from the rest of the crowd?

For starters, the Kobo Arc was said to be designed to reflect your personal experiences through the discovery of preferences, tastes and passions of each individual across a different range of content. It comes with the unique Tapestries interface that makes it a whole lot easier (or at least Kobo hopes to) to search for new videos, uncover new movies, discover new eBooks and websites among others. “Pin” whatever you like, and Kobo Arc will use that repository of information to deliver more of the same genre down the road. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Kobo Glo announced, Kobo Mini is world’s smallest and lightest eReader,