![]() ![]() Discover offers a list of books recommended for use through that bar. Browsing and discovering books on the Arc can be performed through the Tapestries user interface or the horizontal fixed bar on the start screen-Discover. Other than that, there are social networking apps Facebook, Twitter and Skype pre-loaded on the tablet and these will be updated once you add your Google Account to the tablet. Kobo has loaded several ready to use apps such as Zinio and Press Reader to enjoy magazines as well as other content from the web. Over here, SRS TruMedia integration played a major role in enhancing the Bass a bit and amplifying sound. Even music output was nice and kind of impressed us with support for even lossless audio formats such as WAV and FLAC. Watching videos was fun and delightful since the tablet supports popular video formats: MP4, webm, vp8, H.263 and H.264. Popular casual games like Candy Crush Saga and others were easily playable so one may not feel left out. Navigation on the Arc is a bliss and quite impressive but the transitions and animations are not smooth at times. The Tapestries UI appears more like a bit of heavy eye candy. Kobo has introduced the Tapestries user interface to take up on the content discovery challenge. However, Kobo’s version of the Android tablet looks still more Android-like and usable, unlike the Kindle Fire series. Kobo has tried to walk parallel to Amazon’s path by offering a custom skinned user interface on top of Android. In case one tries to find a cheap connecter plug, the possibility of spoiling the tablet’s motherboard is high. Unfortunately, it does not work so easily across different plug points in India. To our surprise, the package bundles a UK-style type G wall adapter plug for charging the Kobo Arc. The SRS TruMedia sound implementation aims to offer 5.1 surround sound with good quality headphones while listening to music or watching a movie. Kobo has packed the SRS TruMedia sound in a way that the twin stereo speakers in front sound really loud and powerful to enjoy music at the cost of clarity. The front facing 1.3 megapixel camera is just decent enough to engage in an HD video call over Skype or similar app. Unfortunately, there is no memory card slot to expand storage. Kobo offers the Arc in three storage options: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. This tablet is capable of offering decent graphics to run most games easily. ![]() The tablet has a 7 inch IPS LCD multitouch display panel with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution to support 720p HD content natively. Kobo has powered the Arc tablet by a dual core 1.5 GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 mobile processor paired with a nice 1 GB RAM. Kobo Arc is very comfortable in the hands but again it is not operable with a single hand and its weight reminds us of the BlackBerry PlayBook. The tablet does appear a bit heavy when compared to modern day 7 inch tablets and large screen phablets. The rubberized textured back panel of the Kobo Arc offers grooves for better grip. On the top right corner lie the power and sleep buttons while the volume control rests on the top right side with the standard audio port just above it. The Kobo logo rests in the center at the bottom bezel with two stereo speaker output meshes on either side. Kobo Arc feels a bit heavy at 364 grams, compared to the Nexus 7 (2013). The obvious noteworthy feature is the lack of any home or physically obstructive buttons in the front. The Arc has a slim, box-like design with the screen deeper by a couple of millimeters than in the usual breed of 7 inch tablets. Things have changed a bit since the Arc was launched. Kobo may have been known for pushing ebooks and ereaders in the market. We managed to get our hands on the Kobo Arc and tried to explore new avenues on it. Apart from packing the Kobo Store, Kobo Arc is intended to compete with budget 7 inch tablets such as Nexus 7 (2012), Asus Memo Pad 7, Acer Iconia B1 and several others. The new Kobo Arc has a 7 inch display with a flavour of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and the custom Kobo user interface running on top of it. Kobo Arc is the direct successor of the Kobo Vox tablet that was out in 2011 and will not be available in India. The new Kobo Arc was launched internationally a year ago but was introduced in India only in October this year. Kobo introduced its own version of an affordable tablet branded as Arc, for enthusiasts interested in edutainment: reading and enjoying multimedia. Kobo had stepped into the tablet rink soon after sales of the Google Nexus 7 (2012) picked up earlier this year. ![]()
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