Borders is expanding their ebook reader offerings again. They’ll soon have two Android-based devices from Velocity Micro. They are the Cruz Reader (left) and the Cruz Tablet (right). Both come pre-loaded with the Borders ebook reader app, both have 7″ TFT full-color displays and Android operating systems, allow web surfing, listening to music, and watching video. Both have accelerometers, touch screens, WiFi connectivity, and user-replaceable Li-Ion batteries that last 6+ hours. They both weigh 1 pound and look a bit like the iPad. Borders says both devices support audio (MP3, AAC, WAV), video (MPEG–4), image (JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP), and ebook (ePub, PDF, TXT, and HTML) files. The Cruz Reader is 7.5″ x 5.6″ x .57″, has 256MB RAM, 256MB internal memory, and comes with a 4GB SD card. It has a resistive touch screen and 802.11b/g WiFi. The Cruz Reader will be available from Borders September 30 and is available for pre-order for $199.99. The Cruz Tablet is 7.5″ x 4.75″ x .6″, has a capacitive touch screen, 802.11n WiFi, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, and comes with an 8GB SD card. The Cruz Tablet will be available from Borders October 15 and can be pre-ordered for $299.99.
Borders to be Offering the Android-based Cruz Reader and Cruz Tablet from Velocity Micro
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Hmmm… These look nice, but I hope their version of the Android OS is “open” in that you can load your own apps onto it. I know a similar tablet/reader (Pandigital’s Novel) is “closed” and you can’t do anything to the OS.
@eddt – true i hope it is open also.. really this could be an ipad replacement at a much cheaper price if you can add other apps.
I found this at: http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/08/21/velocity-micro-cruz-tablet-now-available-for-preorder-for-299-99/
“Unfortunately, potential buyers might be faced with a rather substantial drawback to this otherwise promising Android tablet. As Velocity Micro isn’t a member of the Open Handset Alliance, there’s a rather high chance that the device won’t ship with Google’s stock Android applications. This includes the Android Market, so there may be a limited number of apps available for the Cruz. The specs page mentions a Cruz App Market but we so far have no information on what exactly this Market will be offering.”
But if you install Appbrain, you may be able to d/l more apps. I guess only time will tell!! 🙂