We can't say we've heard of Augen before, but the company certainly sparked our interest (and that of Kmart circular readers) this weekend with its $149.99 7-inch
Android tablet. Oh yes, you heard right shoppers -- the small Florida-based shop is bringing an Android 2.1 tablet with WiFi, 2GB of storage and 256MB of RAM to a store near you for just 150 buckaroos. And according to an Augen spokesperson, it will have access to the Android "Market App Store." That sounds pretty awesome for the pricetag, but we -- along with a number of readers we've heard from -- haven't been able to locate the 7-inch tablet at any Kmart retail location just yet. (Yes, we even spent a lovely ten minutes on hold with our local store while they checked the inventory.) We're told by Augen that the device should be hitting shelves later this week, though the company was unsure it would ever land on Kmart's online store. In addition to the 7-inch tablet, Augen has also released its $89 TheBook e-reader with a similar 7-inch LCD. It doesn't run Android, but you can check out an in-depth look at its Linux OS in
The eReader's video review after the break. We'll be keeping an ear to the ground on the availability of the tablet and will be trying to get one in our hands to confirm the preloaded Market, but let us know in the comments if you've had any luck yourselves.
[Thanks, Matthew]
Update: We've been hearing from a bunch of readers that many Kmarts are giving out "rainchecks" and that they will be calling customers when the Augen tablet arrives later this week.
Update 2: Yep,
Kmart's updated its blog with info on the "rainchecks."
Update 3:
Rdearth53 got his very own tablet! Check the video after the break. We're still tracking one down!
posted July 26th 2010 4:24PM
I have a feeling the guys and gals at Augen had no idea the interest in this would go so viral, and demand so high. Terrific customer support to fix problems right away (though wondering why it was not tested more thoroughly beforehand). I hope they succeed in making customers happy.
@victorweb
I'm waiting for this patch to decide if I want to return it or keep it. I can't wait for them to release it though. I really really want to use this tablet at work. Atleast I have been able to pull down APKs and install them from an SD card.
@Sergenthalo That's the spirit! Hang on in there early adapter. Looking forward to your post-patch review. By the way, have you given the unit a full charge overnight before testing the battery life?
@victorweb
I have gotten around 4 hours of web browsing and general playing around. Thats with WiFi on and full brightness. I think if they patch this hacked up Android 2.1 that on the tablet, the battery life might increase because right now it acts as if there is some 3G radio that is on 24/7.
I hope this works, the headphone jack I could live with.
update on kmart blog
http://blogs.mykmart.com/2010/07/augen-7-inch-android-tablet-update/comments/page/2/#comments
Dear Kmart Shoppers, Thank you for showing your support and interest in our GENTOUCH78 Tablet. We became aware of the technical difficulties over the past 24 hours, and we will be posting an update for a patch to the software at the following link: http://augen.helpserve.com/ under latest download files within the next 48 hours.
Just to mention a few technical difficulties we have found and are patching are:
the memory size of 284mb not being shown as 2GB will be corrected as this is a glitch in the software.
Android Market place not being able to download apps will be fixed in this patch, as this is a glitch in the software. As of right now the operating system and pre-loaded applications are using .5 Gb so the available space displayed should be approximately 1.5GB.
To solve the issue with the headphone jack being to small for a 3.5 mm headphone connection, we ask you to send us an email to support@augenus.com with your Name, Adress, eMail Adress along with a proof of purchase. We will be sending you at our expense the 2.5 mm headphones to go along with the unit within 15-20 days.
Thank you for your support,
Daniel Gofman
Vice President
Augen Electronics Corp.
I'm not sold on the device (yet) but I'm impressed by the executive ownership of the problems and the quick response.
A few comments:
1) I had a chat with an "Ari" at Augen. An update will be available to download in the next 48 hours. This will supposedly fix the app store issues as well as the minor thing of not being able to hard reset the phone.
2) This unit is okay. Definitely not on par with an iPad, but for a toss around unit, it's okay.
3) Battery life sucks, depending on what you are doing. Battery goes from full charge down to nada in about 3 hours of 75% surfing and 25% messing with the built in apps.
4) It seems to have a GPS. Adding the power applet to the home screen shows a GPS symbol that is active. Using the built in mapping program nails my position dead on within 100 feet. That, of course, may also just do the location service and that's it.
Overall, it's a good toy to get your feet wet with an Android 2.1 device. It is very unpolished, but for those wanting something ton play with, it's okay.
@Archerydevil, you might want to try some of these power saving tips to see how long you can stretch the battery levels...
http://www.wikihow.com/Save-Battery-Power-on-an-Android
Would like to see a review after the patch is in place. Then if you dont like it you can always ebay it.. http://cgi.ebay.com/Augen-Android-2-1-7-Tablet-New-Box-/230504514572
I can deal with lower-end specs for that price but not a resistive screen
@wyldtek
It really isn't as bad as you would think.
@Sergenthalo Using your finger nails for concentrated pressure may be better than tapping with the pad of your finger.
I used this program called Quick System Info. It showed an accelerometer so hopefully the update fixes my issues with the screen not changing orientation.
This just in, CNN is covering the Augen Touchpad! I have a feeling that Augen did not predict this amount of coverage, and is probably both happy and anxious. Let's see if they can get that patch up fast and have enough stock to ship.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/07/29/android.tablet.gahran/#fbid=dr8TH_er8K4
The CPU in the Augen Gentouch 7" is a Telechip TCC8902 720Mhz processor. See my video taking it apart below...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E6Q_hBm70E
I just picked up this little piece of crap, and guess what, IT IS A PIECE OF CRAP!!! Do not waste your time or $$$$. Wifi is incredibly horrible, it is slow, the connection drops all the time. Overall performance, yeah right.... I think Augen brought back the 286mhz processor... Touch screen, does it have one??? The box says it does!! Taking it back to KMART... Good idea just crappy product.. Save your $$$ and go buy an iPad or wait till the Win7 tabs come out....
@jimbostro I see this is you joined today and shared this as your first comment. Hmm.
i got lucky and got 5 of these(thats all the stores will get) tonight, i have them posted on ebay if anyone is interested in them.
Got my raincheck for the tablet today and picked up the ereader on impulse, just to get an idea of the quality this company dishes out. I'll give a quick review of what I saw out of the ereader:
The eBook ereader is a decent device for under $100 I even connected it to the internet right off the bat with no problem... but the browser on the ereader is sloooooow and the screen doesn't rotate using the browser along with using the joystick to navigate the site is a pain only to be compared to my Palm Sized PC days with my HP Jornada or Cassiopeia. Pulling up google or Wikipedia is a snap but try pulling up MSNBC or even Engadget is a test of patience.
Second thing I learned is DON'T try to do multiple downloads to the embedded 2GB, I tried downloading about 50 High quality pictures equalin 300MB, an 800MB movie and a 15 song music album which was about 100MB and they all came to a crawl - I just resorted to doing the movie which took about 15 minutes and then album and some picswhich took another 15 minutes individually and it did decent seemed like USB 1.1 speeds. I will say that with Windows 7 it was pretty much plug and play and once Windows sorted the drivers the folders on the ereader were laid out plain and simple for anyone to just drag in the assorted media.
The ereader is running some version of linux 2.2.6 I think on a 800x480 matte screen that has pretty decent color and brightness with a 400mhz processor and 64MB of RAM in it which actually does a very good job of playing videos and music, it also has a speaker with does a modest job with sound and plugging in headphones the audio is very loud and clear which is good.
Of course the main thing for this device is supposed to be its ereader functions which does very well for reading books, there are a lot of functions to the ereader such as multiple fons sizes and even margin and line heights which I didn't expect from a sub $99 device. Add to that a text to speech option along with a notepad to take notes on and I'll say it gives you a decent bang for your Benjamin.
The specs claim 8hrs battery life for reading ebooks alone, I watched an almost 2hr movie and the battery didn't die on me and gave me a little while to play with the ereader amd music functions so I'd say the estimate might be sort of accurate. The keyboard is okay but they could have done a little more work on the navigation joystick and an auto off option but that's not too big of a gripe, the body is made of decent plastic and looks good to be so cheap. There is also an update option to the firmware so I would not be surprised to see a bit of hacking being done to this even if the company decides to stop updating it.
So in a nutshell if seeing the ereader in action gives anything to see about the tablet it will indeed be interesting to tinker with. As for the tablets processor I'm pretty sure this is the processor in it, dual 400mhz:
http://www.ingenic.cn/eng/productServ/AppPro/JZ4755/pfCustomPage.aspx
i took one out and played with it, its a nice product for the price.
where is my reply which i submit just now?
what is the difference with Gpad G10? I found a video on Youtube here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EBjy18WqCo
I am very skeptical of its price,it is absolutely impossible. Let me try to analyze its cost, Android 2.1 system requirements are very high on the hardware, CPU, motherboards, will significantly increase its cost. $149.99,are you kidding? It is not funny.So,just forget it. I have checked the latest Android 2.1 named "Gpad G10" and list price is $184.99 on Pandawill:
http://www.pandawill.com/gpad-g10-android-21-mid-7-inch-1080p-3d-games-multitouch-gravity-sensor-camera-silver_p37699.html
@addict2010
I don't think you need beefier hardware specs to run Android 2.1 vs. 1.5 or 1.6. My HTC Hero has a slower processor and less memory, and it runs 2.1 just fine. The breaking point seems to be 2.2
I bought one of these bad boys and while it has plenty of issues, I think they are mainly due to software & some hard-coded (or hidden) settings. Some of the things that were not touched, such as the web browser & Youtube app, work extremely well IMO.
The only hardware-related feature I'm struggling with is the resistive touchscreen. I did not expect capacitive at this price point, and I am able to use my Chumby's resistive screen about as well as any capacitive, but this thing is giving me some problems. You can see how unresponsive it is (even when using the stylus) when you use the pointer application in Development Tools. But who knows, maybe touch sensitivity can be tweaked somehow.
I think if some XDA developers get a hold of this & give it some TLC, it could end up being a really sweet device for the money.
Having said that, I'm probably going to return mine unless Augen sends out their software update this weekend and it addresses most of the issues discussed earlier.
I noticed that Augen changed the website for the Gentouch and it now says the tablet has access to the "app store" with over 2,000 apps available. Does this mean it will not connect to the App Marketplace?
@br7369
Ya I just saw that. Christ I hope that it can still download from the market place.
I think you're better off tapping it with your nails. That will also reduce fingerprints. Try that. Oh, and if the update comes out and works, someone download the Amazon Kindle for Android and see how that e-reader works. There are free books you can test it out with.
Thanks! Vic
Dear Augen Customers (Gen Nation),
We are aggressively working on the patch to address the identified issues. We can assure you that the patch will be available shortly. However, we did supply you with instructions on how to install the USB drivers for the Windows Operating System ( no drivers are required for MAC OS). These drivers will allow the GENTOUCH78 to connect and be recognized by your desktop/laptop using the Windows Operating System. In addition we recently made available a walk through on how to view and use your micro SD card for the device, which we have become aware there has been some confusion. You can find these updates at the following link: http://augen.helpserve.com/ under latest download files. We want to make it a great experience for our customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to make it a great experience at Augen.
Thank you for your support,
Daniel Gofman
Vice President
Augen Electronics Corp.
@AugenDev
The gentouch page has also been updated and doesn't say google marketplace but it says 2000 apps. Are you removing google marketplace?
Had one in my hands...ready to buy. But it had a 2.5 headphone and not a 3.5. so that was a deal breaker.
Bought one Saturday, it sucks badly. It's going back Sunday. hahaha $150 + tax for this? I didn't realize how much of the Internet was dominated by Flash. Android 2.2 is suppose to bring flash, but can we trust this will be allowed to be upgraded to 2.2? Probably not! There's a "bug" in the log-in procedure in the Google App Store that is not letting you download anything :( I've already seen other comments on this and suspect Google isn't happy and showing everyone how quickly they will lock manufacturers out. The manufacturer on the other hand stands by their comment that this is a "bug". I'm not going to wait and see about that. Mine had a place for an HDMI port, but no port. I could not get it to re-orient and the book says it can. However I have already read other comments that it doesn't. As usual the manual has a "we aren't liable for the specs" comment printed on the back. As this unit stands, its not much better than the Eken's and they can be found for 89.99 plus shipping. I may have to wait a day or two before taking this back for a refund as I have run across a strange bug when "clearing" your personal information out of the unit. It is suppose to remove all files downloaded and your Google accounts. HOUSTON! We have a problem... Google Talk and Mail didn't get the message to purge the accounts. I have found a place to manually get it to say it has been deleted, but again, Google Apps did not get the message.
I have found that an alternative app store works fine. Slideme.org will download apps and will allow young load stuff like Opera and Facebook apps. Now that I'm able to load other apps, this improves things quite a bit.
@Archerydevil
You can also try freewarelovers.com for android and download the apk to the sdcard. I found this to be much easier and faster than the android market.
For a cheap $150 android tablet I think it's alright. I can deal with the slow processor given the fact that it is a cheap tablet. I've been playing with the gentouch for a few days and I like it more and more. I was frustrated that the market was not working, but downloading the apks from a website made it worth the money. The best part is that the ES file explorer can access my NAS public folder through wifi. Through the wifi LAN I was able to transfer music files and apks before the usb patch. Overall, I would have to say this is a good budget product.
I read they are keeping the Original Android Marketplace ON the Tablet, and now the Official release for the Market update is August 10th. Next Wednesday as they have ran into a few problems and are adding the finishing touches and will be testing it. They also are releasing another patch promised for sure by the end of this Week. August 6th at the Latest. That will add and fix some calibration settings/sensitivity n stuff for the resistive touch screen, as well as the Factory Wipe Action (as it's not wiping Google account info fully atm)
ALSO I have some tips for any of you guys that currently own this sweet device for the low price it is. Here's a Few tips that has helped mine. First backup and delete some of the bloatware thats on it. Keep ES File Explorer though.
I installed an app called "Quick Settings", as well as an app Called "In App Wifi Toggle" and now when you push and HOLD the 3rd button. the "Search" Key. you get a popup menu. From there you can enable Wifi without exiting the app your in, and the Quick Settings app allows you to control volume (Since the GT's got no hardware volume control) and then it also has Airplane Mode. Here is a little power saving tip.
I noticed that cell radio (E and Roaming) was using a majority of my battery power, 54% + according to the android power usage utility. So, I installed Quick settings, and put the GT into airplane mode, followed by turning the WiFi back on. Since then, My battery life has improved a lot, and cell is no longer listed on the battery use summary. Plus the E and R are gone in the Notification Tray.
- Install ADW.Launcher and use it for the new Home.
- Install Auto Memory Manager (New one doesn't require root) Set it to moderate.
- Install a TasKiller, Task Manager
- Use Quick Settings or some Widget program to enable Airplane mode to disable the phone aspect, Saves lots of Battery.
- last thing, made a huge difference for me was installing Swype. This device isn't the easiest to type on. But Swype works amazingly well and I can fly through emails with Swpye, make sure you get the right version installed.
http://www.multiupload.com/9ATSBQT3Z6
Enjoy your sweet device now!
GENTOUCH78 update for screen calibration and USB charging via USB cable posted at http://www.augenus.com/indexhome.html/News.html
Thank you for your support,
Augen Development Team
Augen Electronics Corp.
Very Cool. The update works. Typing is more accurate and usb charging is functional.
I found a way to wipe the device. I did the factory reset via the Settings and on boot the reset was pressed while holding down the Home button. The next restart brought it back to an initial state.
Now, I just saw the patch and a few other update notes. I want to like this device and but was wiping it to do a return...
I may wait for the marketplace update
Has anyone experienced the other pads to compare? gpad g10 as an example? Any feedback?
This is linux based system and I keep getting windows drivers and windows solutions for upgrades. Why not deliver to the linux platform so we can better use the system?
Rumor has it that these tablets all have identical MAC addresses. Anyone own multiple Augen tablets to prove this wrong or right?
@Archerydevil
they all have the same mac address as far as can be seen. Mine and a few other peoples post all match.
Florida- August 07, 2010 – Augen Electronics Corp., an innovator of tablet pc’s, netbooks, and eReaders, would like to deliver the following statement to address the circulating media gossip regarding Augen’s preloaded apps.
On July, 29 2010 Augen had a constructive conversation with Google Inc. The topic of the discussion was Google’s Application Suite. As you know, Google Inc. has released the source code for the entire Android platform under the flexible and commercial-friendly Apache 2.0 open source license. Augen is free to use that open source code; however, the suite of applications comprising Google Mobile Services on Android are proprietary to Google and have not been released under open source licenses. The Google Mobile Service and Android Apps were pre installed during the development process on our tablets for testing purposes, and were not removed unintentionally before releasing the products in the market place.
Google and Augen came to a mutual understanding that the Google Mobile Services Application Suite pre-installed on the GENTOUCH/ GENBOOK Series; could not be removed due to technological constraints for the products that were sold, shipped, or already produced.
For future production runs and deliveries, Augen will block and remove the Google Mobile Services Application Suite from the current devices until further notice. We are currently in communication with Google Inc. to obtain the required licensing for upcoming products, and will announce in our future statements the timelines and availability of these products as it will become available to us. However, for your convenience Augen will add applications to accommodate the absence of the Google Mobile Services Application Suite.
OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU…
The future of Augen holds a key to develop market conscious products with a vision of delivering the latest and emerging technologies, being available and affordable to every household, big/small corporation in the United States of America and worldwide.
We are at the final stages of releasing an entire new line of products which incorporates the newest technology and concepts, that will make a difference in your every day lives. We encourage you our Gen Nation, to follow the exciting products that Augen will be unveiling in the very near future. We are here to put the world at your fingertips and take you beyond the realm of the market that exists today, bringing you with us into a new era of open world communication and computing.
We are a US based company and understand and incorporate your wishes, desires, and requirements in our company’s DNA. We are here for you and are looking for your continued support, and excitement in our current and future releases.
Gary Gofman
CEO
Augen Electronics Corp.
Hm. So basically:
1) GMail and other apps like the map utility weren't licensed and will not be included in future releases.
2) the underlying hint is that the app store isn't licensed properly either
And 3) upcoming production runs will have a different suite.
Which brings up questions - like this one: will current owners have the ability to get the proposed replacement apps?
my local kmart still dosent have it ... seriously
Still rocking my iPad, maybe later...