Cruz is a line of Android-based

e-book reader An e-reader, also called an e reader or e device, is a Mobile computing, mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and Periodical literature, periodicals. Any device that can display text on ...

s and

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...

s by Velocity Micro, a privately held computer manufacturer located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

that specializes in custom high-end computers.

History

Cruz debuted in 2010, when Velocity Micro announced the release of the Cruz Reader and Cruz Tablet. These devices are Android-based multimedia gadgets. Both devices feature 7" full color screens. The Cruz Reader utilizes a

resistive touchscreen A resistive touchscreen is a type of touchscreen, touch-sensitive display that works by detecting pressure applied to the screen. It is composed of two flexible sheets coated with a resistive material and separated by an air gap or microdots. ...

, whereas the Cruz Tablet makes use of the more advanced and responsive

capacitive touch screen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically layered on the top of the e ...

. At

CES 2011 CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...

, Velocity Micro unveiled plans to release three new tablets, including 10" and 8" models, as well as another 7" tablet. The specific release dates and estimated retail prices are not currently available. It was reported that these new tablets, operating on Android 2.2 or Android 2.3, would feature dual cameras,

Tegra Tegra is a system on a chip (SoC) series developed by Nvidia for mobile devices such as smartphones, personal digital assistants, and mobile Internet devices. The Tegra integrates an ARM architecture central processing unit (CPU), graphics pr ...

processors, Bluetooth 2.1,

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

, and Micro

HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary digital interface used to transmit high-quality video and audio signals between devices. It is commonly used to connect devices such as televisions, computer monitors, projectors, gam ...

out. Velocity Micro also announced plans to release in 2011 the Android-based Cruz Watch.

Cruz Reader

The Cruz Reader is an Android 2.0-based

. It has a 7-inch full color, 800 × 600 resolution

. The Cruz Reader's pre-installed e-book reading app is the

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

e-book reader application. However, because Borders is now defunct, Velocity Micro has released a firmware update that changes the e-book reader application to

Kobo Inc. Rakuten Kobo Inc., or simply Kobo, is a Canadian company that sells ebooks, audiobooks, e-readers and formerly tablet computers. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is a subsidiary of the Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakute ...

's. The only models are the R101, R102, and R103.

Cruz Tablet

Cruz Tablets represent Velocity Micro's higher-end Android-based devices. They all use a capacitive touchscreen. The original Cruz Tablet (model T103, 104, or 105) is a widescreen-format (16:9) device. A later version of the Cruz Tablet (model T301) was released in December 2010 with a 4:3 7" screen and Kindle for Android application pre-installed. In addition, the T408 and T410 have refurbished models available. Models include: * Cruz T100 series (Android 2.0, upgradable to Android 2.2) ** T103 ** T104 ** T105 * Cruz T301 (Android 2.0, upgradable to Android 2.2) * Cruz PS37 (Android 2.3) * Cruz T400 series (Android 2.3) ** Cruz T408 ** Cruz T410 * Cruz T500 series (Android 4.0.3) ** Cruz T501 (not yet available) ** Cruz T507 (not yet available) ** Cruz T508 ** Cruz T510 The T100 and T301 tablets have a problem where the browser will crash when google.com or websites that use Google Analytics are accessed. Velocity Micro addresses this on its website as a Google

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior. Web browsers have ...

problem. Attempts at addressing this issue through the velocitymicro.com support receive this response: "The update Google has implemented to their search engine isn't compatible to the T100 series hardware. The device is a legacy model."

Model comparison

Notes

Retailers

Cruz devices were sold in several major consumer electronics retailers in the United States including

Best Buy Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network and a flagship shopping channel specializing in televised Shopping channel, home shopping, owned by QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group). Founded in 19 ...

, and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

."Cruz Retail Page"
/ref> The model T104 was sold by woot.com on 29 May 2012.

References

External links

Cruz blog
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129021627/http://cruzreader.com/CruzBlog/ , date=2011-01-29 Dedicated ebook devices Tablet computers Android (operating system) devices