Velocity announces pre-order availability of Cruz Reader

By on Aug 20, 2010 at 6:01 PM
eBooks August 20, 2010

Today, Velocity Micro announced that their 7-inch Android 2.0 Cruz e-Reader is available for pre-order on Borders, Amazon, and at CruzReader.com. The device has an 800 x 600 screen resolution, Wi-Fi b/g, can playback video in a full 720p, built-in accelerometer, and a micro-SD card slot for expandable storage. You can pre-order your Cruz for $199 and the device will be available on September 30th. We’ve got the full press release after the break. Any takers?

Velocity Micro® Announces Pre-Order Availability for 7” Cruz Reader

Innovative Ereader immediately for sale direct from CruzReader.com and select retailers, shipping in early September

Richmond, VA – August 20, 2010 – Velocity Micro, the premier builder of premium, high performance desktop computers, notebooks, and peripherals, announces immediate presales for the captivating Cruz Reader on Borders.com, NewEgg.com, and CruzReader.com. In addition to these presale opportunities, Cruz products will also be available at most major electronics and consumer products stores nationwide starting in September.

“We’ve spent nearly one year designing and refining the Cruz Reader to make it both remarkable and affordable,” said Randy Copeland, President and CEO of Velocity Micro. “We’re excited to see that hard work coming to fruition. We know the marketplace will be as well, due to the tremendous interest and support we have received from our customers and numerous retail partners. We’ve combined the color screen and functionality of a tablet with the affordability and portability of an e-reader, which is exactly what the market is craving.”

The debut product from an affordable line-up of Android powered mobile devices, the $199.99, 7” Cruz Reader features a sleek design, touch screen display, and tons of multimedia features. At under one pound and about a half inch thick, the Cruz Reader goes everywhere you do, making it perfect for students, avid readers, frequent flyers, and techies. Additional features such as video playback and web browsing provide a much richer experience than traditional e-ink readers at a more reasonable price than a tablet.

Key specs and features include:

  • Crystal clear 4:3 ratio, 800×600 full color touch screen display – ideal for viewing ebooks and magazines, plus web pages and movies
  • Google Android 2.0 Operating System
  • 802.11b/g wifi and full Web browser support
  • 720p High res video and high quality audio playback with no proprietary content restrictions
  • Built-in Dictionary, Notepad, Calendar, Alarm Clock and many other useful apps
  • Built in accelerometer for easy viewing from any angle
  • USB and SD card slot for upgradable storage, including 4GB SD card
  • Up to 10 hours of use and over 36 hours of standby time, with a replaceable battery
  • Access to over 2 Million ebooks via included Borders E-book library portal application
  • Enough storage for over 1000 books

In addition to the Cruz Reader, Velocity Micro will also be releasing the more powerful  7” Android based Cruz Tablet and kid friendly Cruz StoryPad later in September. For more information or to sign up for e-newsletter updates, visit CruzReader.com.

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  • adf

    not too shabby, capacitive or resistive?

  • DaveM

    Is it a full Android tablet with market access? If not, let’s hope it gets rooted fast because that is a nice price. 2.0 seems odd. Should be at least 2.1, but at least it is not 1.6

  • DaveM

    The website says you can download apps and games so bacically it is a tablet. Tether your phone to it and you have internet access anywhere.

    The $299 model is 840×480, android 2.1, has 512MB of ram and 4GB flash memory built in. This is 800x 600, android 2.0, 256MB ram and no built in memory, only SD cards.

    Neither have a camera of any kind :(

    The $199 model seems a better deal to me.

    • Eric

      Readers don’t need cameras. I am willing to let that slide if I am buying a true “reader” and not a pad/tablet device.

  • Obj_me

    I believe it’s resistive, though you can get capacitive, more ram, etc in the Cruz tablet for an extra $100. What I don’t get is why they decided to make their higher end product a lower res? Anyhow being an iOS user I’ve been waiting for an android tablet…just seems to be more suited for that application IMHO…whenever I use android I’d like a bigger screen and I’d sure as hell don’t want a 5″ piece of Dell hardware running old software. So I’m glad to see some more android tablets coming to market and would probably opt for their $299 model though I would love to see a higher res. Being that the hardware is so inexpensive I’m guessing the display isn’t the highest quality. (preparing to be flamed) I have been spoiled by my i4 display(for all you haters take a look at the comparison, not saying it’s the best bit it’s damn good) and no I’m not a fanboy I guess I’m just more open to platforms other than what I use opposed to some here.

  • MichaelH

    I was excited until I saw that it has Android. My experience with Android hasn’t been as great as my geek friends said it would be. I’ll just wait for that rumored color Kindle that may be here early 2011.

    • Mr. Blackberry

      You don’t like to constantly press the task killer app, random yet frequent force closing or an overall glitchy OS?

      • Celz

        I dont either thats why I got Android…

      • Cha_pimp

        yea.. pretty sure its no task killing going on here on IOS.

    • Iggy

      Wow…really? LOL you’re an idiot. you do know that the kindle and nook both run on an android platform, right? So will your beloved color Kindle in 2011.

      • Neilski

        The Kindle runs Linux, not Android, though Android is based on Linux. However, Android and Kindle, on a UI level, and everything else besides the kernel, are totally different. Watch who you call an idiot.

      • tm

        Iggy = Dunning-Kruger.

  • neo

    ipad wanna be.

    • Mr. Blackberry

      Its the attack of the clones…errrr DROIDS, ok its just an ipad knockoff.

      • Celz

        So what’s the blackpad?? But hey it actually might be good Rim has someone who knows what they are doing make the ui for it…

  • DaveM

    michaelh
    Still waiting for a color Palm Zire to use with your motorola startac?

  • http://evologynow.wordpress.com Evology Now

    Looks pretty nice. It’ll be interesting to see when everyone is carrying around tablets and the like. I’m sure it will happen eventually.

  • muze

    things can’t have an 800*600 res and play 720 video. you’re missing some pixels. also, that the video is progressive is a given, its a computer. maybe you should think before using stupid buzzwords.

    • muzeisright

      I wanted to look smart and be the first person to jump on this, but you beat me to it. 720p refers to horizontal lines of resolution, which is quantified by the second number in the resolution series: ### x ###. The second number has to be at least 720 to TRULY play in high def…

      • Burgundy

        Alright, this is coming from someone who knows very VERY little about HD monitors and the like, but wouldn’t your “not enough pixel” problem for HD playback be solved if you just turned that bad boy on it’s side?? Just asking, out of curiosity. Plz don’t flame me.. lol.

  • MacMan

    It’s funny how everyone tries to copy apples products when they have success. The only problem is your behind 1 year so next iPad comes out and it blows you away. Just like all these droids trying to catch up with the iPhone. Is it going to be real 720 or crappy looking like the evo or droid of the month ?

  • Modern Man

    Any reader with a backlight = migraine headache for me. I’ll stay with my nook.

  • StoneGold

    It seems less like a reader, more like a gimped tablet. Can I read it in the sun? Will the battery last for a week? No? Then I’d rather pay the extra $100 or whatever for a tablet that will, or get an e-ink reader.

  • Clovis

    What product do you think they based the look on?

  • jonathan

    So it plays 720p movies, but even the most expensive model has 4 gb of built in… I have never seen a movie that was 720p under the 4gb mark. So, it CAN do it, but there would really be no possible way TO do it.

  • Arthur Johnsin

    The maker, Velocity Micro, create very high quality desktop machines. I have one and it’s awesome both in looks and performance. So I looked closely at the Cruz specs, hoping for good news. Unfortunately I don’t see much. The first thing I noticed is that they list NOTHING about the processor for any of the devices — I mean, I can understand wanting to be coy about naming it, but they might at least tell me the SPEED for the $299 device. I’m guessing they’re quiet because it’s slow. Then I saw that the res for the capitative screen is disappointing, and my heart sank. I’m afraid that VM just wasted their development budget on a machine that’s going to be blown away by the 7″ iPad. Sigh.

  • simon cabron

    Every version of the android OS, up to and including the latest, are optimized for an 800X480 resolution. The next iteration, gingerbread, will bring support for up to 1200×600. This tablet likely won’t have the power (under the hood) to upgrade to 3.0, so it probably was the smarter choice to be optimized for the apps/games currently available. Also, no android market access. They have something called ‘cruz market’

  • http://tablets-planet.com Scott

    The e-reader looks fine but the Cruz tablet isn’t impressive at all especially if you consider the caliber of tablets that are coming.

  • Tyrone Washington

    Is that a book about Urkel or Bin Laden on the lower right?

    • tm

      Racist git.

  • jsteiner

    Yeah, if you think thats something check out the kids tablet that has 6000 resolution. I saw it here, http://techhog.com/2010/08/21/first-kids-tablet-to-have-6000-resolution/ I know its not real, but what a bunch of buffoons, that’s a big error.

  • Deb B.

    I bought the Cruz 7 Reader on HSN the other day and had recieved it two days ago. I was so excited and at first worked right, but than the touch keys started to malfuction!! I typed a A and a S came up… ect. Well I already had to mail it back!!!

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