Augen's $150 Android Tablet Coming to Kmart This Week
By Jared Newman | Monday, July 26, 2010 at 3:42 pm
While most major hardware makers are still getting their tablet acts together, Augen is sneaking in with 7-inch Android tablet, supposedly due this week in Kmart stores for $150.
The specs aren’t half-bad, either. According to Augen’s website, the Gentouch78 runs Android 2.1 and has an 800 MHz processor, built-in Wi-Fi, 256 MB of RAM, 2 GB of memory and an SD card slot holding up to 16 GB. It also supports 720p video playback, has USB input for data transfers and comes with a leather carrying case. Augen’s website claims Android Market support for 70,000 apps, which is surprising because Google reportedly prohibits access for devices that lack smartphone-like hardware, such as cameras and accelerometers.
If a cheap Android tablet interests you, but sounds too good to be true, there’s not much harm in finding out. Engadget heard from an Augen representative that the tablet will be in Kmart stores this week, and it’s already showing up in circulars. With any luck, you’ll be able to try the tablet before buying. You may also be able to take it home for a while, as I don’t see any exceptions for computers in Kmart’s 90-day return policy, but I’d double check in the store if you’re serious about it.
Companies that have promised or at least considered Android tablets include Asus, Acer, Lenovo, LG, HP, HTC and Toshiba. Archos already sells a 7-inch tablet that’s stuck on Android 1.5 and costs $200. Dell’s about to launch the 5-inch Streak Android tablet, and may move up to larger sizes, but so far, there isn’t much you can buy stateside.
So here’s to one of the first actual iPad alternatives to actually reach a retail store, and for cheap. Strange that it’s only available at Kmart and comes from a brand you probably haven’t heard of.
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July 27th, 2010 at 6:20 am
It's not the so called $35 tablet from India. If Augen has produced a halfway decent tablet things could get very interesting in the 4th quarter of 2010 for Apple.
July 27th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
So no accelerometer or cam? Even just a cam would have been great for skyping or something. I was really digging this until that.
July 27th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
I don't know for sure that there's no accelerometer, but Augen's website doesn't say there is one, and all the product shots are in landscape mode. No mention of camera either, which I'm sure would be listed under specs if it had one. As of now, Skype for Android lacks video support anyway.
Btw, I updated the post with a link to Augen's website. Thought I had it in there before.
July 27th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Cked out the local kmart in burbank & of course, not augen tablet. the hard core geeks beat me to it for now. Didn't notice there wasn't a cam on it. Oops. Still curious to see it. I saw the augen ebook reader briefly. Nice screen but the battery was nearly dead so I couldn't really play with it. Might be a good deal @$99 if it works halfway decently.
July 27th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
They don't say the weight or battery life. The price point is good if it fits your needs. But nobody should fool themselves. This is not an iPad-class device. It's very unlikely that it takes over 90% of your computing life and gives you 10 hours a day for 2 years like an iPad does.
> Google reportedly prohibits access for devices that lack smartphone-like hardware
That's because Android is "open." You probably have to download apps using a Mac or PC and transfer them over to the tablet via USB. And you'll have to identify which ones will actually run, and even if they run, they may not run 100% correctly.
August 5th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
What about FLASH????
If you want to up one on the iPAD, you got to bring out the FLASH. If this thing were to run FROYO (Android 2.2), then maybe it would be a decent pickup, but with no mention of Adobe Flash support, I don't know if this would be a hit….
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