Augen Gentouch 78 preview
By Joanna Stern 
posted July 30th 2010 8:00PM
posted July 30th 2010 8:00PM
- Hardware: Just like some of the early videos indicated, the tablet is made entirely of black plastic. For $150 we can't really knock the build quality of this thing, but we do have to say the $199 Archos 7 Home Tablet feels a lot sturdier and is also a bit thinner. Still, the Augen tablet is satisfactorily light and it's easy to hold up to read a website or e-book. As we've said before, 7-inch tablets are an ideal size for holding in one hand. Oh, and as you will see in the gallery, Augen throws in a faux leather case -- probably to hide the 78's cheap aesthetic. Surrounding the tablet is a micro-USB port, a 2.5mm headphone jack (yeah, it's a bummer!) and a microSD card slot. As for that headphone jack, Augen has told us that if you email them at support@augenus.com, they'll send you a pair of 2.5mm headphones or some sort of adapter -- cheers to that!
- Screen: Come on, you're not really shocked that the display is resistive and only has an 800 x 480 resolution, are you? For the price, we expected nothing more really, though in use it wasn't as bad as we'd imagined. Obviously, you have to press pretty hard on the 7-inch display to make selections, but there's also a stylus that pops out on the top of the tablet. We've actually defaulted to using the stylus, but a fingernail certainly gets the job done as well. Either way, resistive is, well, resistive. Also, you may notice in the pictures that there's a slight gap between the glass of the screen and the actual display. There's also no accelerometer or software for adjusting the screen orientation. No beating around the bush on this one: this screen is cheap, but then again so is the tablet.
- Performance / Android experience: We actually have to give Augen some credit for shipping the Gentouch 78 with Android 2.1. It's not 2.2 -- though Augen says it may be upgradeable sometime -- but at first boot we were greeted by a live wallpaper and shortcuts to the browser, YouTube, the Market, iReader, Skype and others. Basically, if you're an Android user, you'll feel quite at home. However, we cannot tell you how badly we wish there was a home and back button on the front of the device -- there are a few cheap, very clicky buttons on the back, but it's incredibly annoying to guess what each one does when you're looking at the screen. The good news is that the GenTouch tablet is nowhere near as slow as the GenBook, but its 800MHz processor and 256MB of RAM makes Android smartphones, like the Droid X, Incredible and Evo 4G, look like Usain Bolt. As you see in the video, the application panel jiggers across the screen, scrolling is quite delayed and launching applications takes a noticeable few seconds. Still the tablet is capable of doing things like loading and watching YouTube videos as well as surfing the web, albeit on Hawaiian time. There's 2GB of onboard memory, but the microSD slot should support up to 16GB cards.
- Apps / Market access: So, yes, the Gentouch does come preloaded with the Google Market, but just as we experienced with the smartbook, applications won't install. When we chatted with Augen, we were told that an update should restore access, though they also mentioned they'd be chatting with Google soon about the access. (We can't imagine Google is all that happy that this company is shipping tablets with the Market preloaded.) However, Gmail and YouTube are both pre-installed on the device, and we have had no issues with either one. Skype, on the other hand, doesn't work at all. We'll be burning through our weekend trying to sideload some .apks, so stay tuned on how that all turns out. Augen tells us the updates for the store will appear on its support site.
@endel1337 no clue i would imagine but i dont own the device but theirs a fourm that i go to alot and their a topic for this device so im gonna ask
@endel1337 "it may be possible using the flashboot touchscreen update that we have for the gentouch78. There are several things that there will be an issue. The first is that the x10 uses a TCC8901 which does not have a mali200 GPU (only a 1080P hardware decodes) . The second issue is that the GPS on the on the x10 mid is only compatible with wince. The third issue is the x10 mid uses a different WiFi chip 88w8686."
theirs a fourm called ill-logix they have some info on cheap devices you should check it out
App store update released! :
http://www.augengentouch.com/app-store-update-released/
Anyone else think the name choice is just unfortunate. Gentouch. Sounds like creepy old man code for some inappropriate touching.
"Come on over here young man and take a looksie at my Gentouch. You want to try it?" *read as Herbert (old man) from Family guy
Posted on the other Augen article on Engadget:
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AugenDev Posted Aug 7th 2010 5:45PMNEUTRAL
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
This is a bomb. I do not think you need an indepth review of this device to call it a piece of crap. Granted I was very excited to get it, at the price. But the touchscreen is not worth $5 bucks, my G1 is two years old, has been thru hell and is much more responsive. I actually have to press until I hear the screen bending here and I have more misclicks than anything. It also swallowed my memory card into its crappy plastic body and I cant get it out without tearing this thing open. I am afraid when I do tear it open, I will find a fortune that says "Be patient, a non-crap android pad comes soon."