Cruz (Velocity Micro)

Cruz (Velocity Micro)

Cruz

Cruz Reader Developer Type Velocity Micro E-book reader and tablet computer

Operating system Android 2.0, 2.2, 2.3, or 4.0 Website www.velocitymicro.com/cruz.php [1]

Cruz is a line of Android-based e-book readers and tablet computers by Velocity Micro, a privately held computer manufacturer located in Richmond, Virginia 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, whereas the Cruz Tablet makes use of the more advanced and responsive capacitive touch screen. 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 processors, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, and Micro HDMI 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 e-book reader.[2] It has a 7-inch full color, 800 600 resolution resistive touchscreen. The Cruz Reader's pre-installed e-book reading app is the Borders Group 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.'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 (Velocity Micro) 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 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." The T400 series tablets will sometimes make custom shortcuts disappear when rotating or shutting down.

Model comparison
R100 Display 7" TFT LCD resistive 7.56" 5.62" 0.58" T100 7" TFT capacitive 7.5" 4.8" 0.6" T301 PS47 T400 series
[3]

T500 series 7"/8"/10" LCD multi-touch [4] capacitive 7.6" 4.7" 0.3" (T507) 7.9" 6.1" 0.4" (T508) 9.5" 7.5" 0.4" (T510) 16:9 (T501, T507) 4:3 (T508, T510) 1024 600 (T507) 1024 768 (T508, T510)

7"/8"/10" TFT multi-touch capacitive 7.5" 5.6" 0.6" 7.5" 5.8" 0.3"

Dimensions

8.5" 6.5" 0.4" (T408) 10.8" 6.8" 0.4" (T410) 4:3 (T408) 16:9 (T410) 800 600 (T408) 1024 600 (T410)

Aspect ratio Screen resolution

4:3 800 600

16:9 800 480

4:3 800 600

4:3 800 600

Processor Memory OS GPU Adobe Flash Storage Wireless

600MHz 256MB Android 2.0 Yes No 256MB

[7]

800MHz 512MB 256MB

[5]

1GHz Cortex A8 512MB Android 2.3 Yes Yes 2GB Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1
[6]

1.2GHz Cortex A8 1GB DDR3 Android 4.0.3

Android 2.0 Yes No 1GB

Yes No

SGX540 Flash 10.3 4GB

Dual Mali-400 2D/3D Core Flash 11.1 8GB Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)

</ref>

Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)

Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)

Cruz (Velocity Micro)

3
Micro USB, microSD, 3.5mm headphone jack

External ports

Mini USB, SD/SDHC, DC in, 3.5mm headphone jack

Micro USB, Mini HDMI out, [8] microSD, DC-5V, 3.5mm headphone jack Front-facing (T507) [9] Front and rear (T508, T510)

Camera

No No 10+ hours, 6 hours of video

No No 10+ hours

No No 6 hours of video No

Front-facing

Microphone Battery [10] life

Yes 7 hours

Yes 5+ hours

6.5 hours

Notes
[1] http:/ / www. velocitymicro. com/ cruz. php [2] Cruz Reader specs (http:/ / www. velocitymicro. com/ R100. php) [3] The T301 and PS47 each have a screen diagonal of 7 inches. The T408 has a screen diagonal of 8 inches, while the T410 has a screen diagonal of 10 inches. [4] The T501 and T507 each have a screen diagonal of 7 inches. The T508 and T510 have screen diagonals of 8 and 10 inches, respectively. [5] The T100 series and the T301 are both upgradable to Android 2.2. Currently, all T301 tablets bought directly from Velocity Micro have the update pre-installed. [6] Flash is not pre-installed.<ref> [7] The Cruz Reader has an internal 2GB microSD card (Special-Edition) or 4GB microSD card (regular) as well. [8] A DC-5V port exists for at least the T510. [9] The T508's and T510's rear-facing cameras have 2.0 megapixels. [10] "Cruz Series Comparison" (http:/ / www. velocitymicro. com/ tabletcompare. php)

Retailers
Cruz devices are sold in several major consumer electronics retailers in the United States including Best Buy, Borders, Sears, QVC, and Amazon.[1] The model T104 was sold by woot.com on 29 May 2012.

References
[1] "Cruz Retail Page" (http:/ / www. velocitymicro. com/ retailcruz. php)

External links
Velocity Micro's official website (http://www.velocitymicro.com/) Official site for Cruz by Velocity Micro (http://www.velocitymicro.com/Cruz.php) Cruz blog (http://cruzreader.com/CruzBlog/)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Cruz (Velocity Micro) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552182125 Contributors: BD2412, Cupcake216, Enervation, Jandalhandler, Jim.henderson, Lenoxus, Logan, WOSlinker, 7 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Velocity Cruz resistive reader wp jeh.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Velocity_Cruz_resistive_reader_wp_jeh.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Jim.henderson

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/