Velocity Micro’s Cruz Reader: Yet Another Android E-Reader
0The e-reader market is expected to grow significantly in the next few years. No wonder lots of companies are trying to get their piece of the pie in this market these days. Velocity Micro is the latest company to enter the e-reader/tablet markets. It is planning to release an Android tablet and e-reader to compete with Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle. Cruz Reader, which will go for $199, is expected to have access to Borders eBook store (offers WiFi g) and provide support for open format documents. It is not clear whether this e-reader can handle all types of Android apps at this point.
Cruz Reader reads PDF, EPUB, and HTML files. It’s also capable of handling video files. Its battery life is not great on paper (only 6 hours) nor is its on-board storage. It does accept SD cards which is a plus. The price is not too high, though it will probably have to be lower if Velocity Micro wants to compete effectively against some of the other players in this market.
Velocity Micro seems to be in the process of launching an e-reader for kids too. Cruz Storypad is more affordable than Cruz Reader and will ship with children story e-books. It’s tough to predict how these two e-readers will do but they certainly won’t kill Kindle or Nook anytime soon.
