Cruz is a line of Android-based

e-book reader An e-reader, also called an e-book reader or e-book device, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals. Any device that can display text on a screen may act as an e-read ...

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 comput ...

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

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

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 In electrical engineering, a resistive touchscreen is a touch-sensitive computer display composed of two flexible sheets coated with a resistive material and separated by an air gap or microdots. Description and operation There are two differ ...

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

capacitive touch screen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...

. At CES 2011, 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 proc ...

processors,

Bluetooth 2.1 Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limit ...

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

, and Micro

HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller, ...

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 Group Borders Group, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol BGP) was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily in ...

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, ereaders and tablet computers. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, and is a subsidiary of the Japanese ecommerce conglomerate Rakuten. The name'' Ko ...

'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 Google Search (also known simply as Google) is a search engine provided by Google. Handling more than 3.5 billion searches per day, it has a 92% share of the global search engine market. It is also the most-visited website in the world. Th ...

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 that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...

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 rebra ...

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), ...

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network, and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Penn ...

, and

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

."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