Toronto’s Kobo launches new Vox tablet, giving Kindle Fire a run for its money

Another contender in the increasingly-crowded tablet market entered the ring today. The latest fighting for a slice of market share? The Kobo Vox, created by Toronto-based ereader company Kobo.

The Vox was rumoured to be coming almost a month ago, when Future Shop accidentally listed the product on their website. Thankfully, one of the key features that listing got wrong was its price: the device will sell for only $199.99 (instead of $249.99, like Future Shop's website said), making it competitive with another recently announced budget tablet, the Kindle Fire.

When the Kindle Fire was announced in September, many blogs were quick to question if it could be the next iPad killer due to its low price and vast library of apps available via the Android Marketplace. Its speed and light weight could make it a great alternative for those not willing to drop $519 on an iPad 2. Now, with the Kobo Vox due to come out two weeks before the Kindle Fire, the battle for entry-level tablet of choice is beginning to heat up.

Here's how the Kobo Vox compares to the Kindle Fire:
Fire Vox
Operating System: Android 2.3 Android 2.3
Book Files: Kindle ePub
User Storage: 8 GB 8 GB, expandable to 32 GB
Battery Life: 8 hours 7 hours
Weight: 412.8 g 402.5g
Display size: 7" 7"
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n 802.11 b/g/n, free access to Bell's WiFi network
Processor: TI OMAP dula core/1 GHz Freescale, iMX51; ARM Cortex A-8; 800 MHz
RAM: 512 MB 512 MB
Other supported file formats: TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8 JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3, AAC, 3gp, mp4, m4a, flac, ogg, wav, mid, 3go, mp4, webm
Resolution: 1024 x 600 pixels 1024 x 600 pixels
Size: 190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm 192.4 mm x 128.4 mm x 13.4 mm
Audio: 3.5 mm stereo jack, top mounted stereo speakers 3.5 mm stereo jack and built-in mono speaker
Connectivity: Micro USB Micro USB
Colours: Black Jet Black, Lime Green, Hot Pink, Ice Blue
Price: $199 USD $199.99 CAN

There's one other big difference, too: the Kobo Vox is guaranteed to be sold in Canada, while the Kindle Fire has yet to get a release date here. In fact, the Kobo Vox will be available before the previously-announced Kindle Fire will be released Nov. 15, while the Kobo Vox ships Oct. 28. There's no release date for the Kindle Fire in Canada, but if the sale of Amazon's other Kindle products in Canada is any indication, it isn't worth holding your breath for a Fire to show up at your local retailer.

Like the Kindle Fire, the Kobo Vox will support the thousands of apps available in the Android Marketplace. It also supports email in Microsoft ActiveSync, IMAP and POP technology, meaning you'll be able to check your email no matter what personal or corporate email client you're using.

Despite its wide-ranging capabilities, Kobo seems to still be dedicated to being a leader in the eReader market. The company is billing the Vox as the "world's first social eReader."

"Readers can get more out of their experience by connecting with Kobo's global community of booklovers," said Kobo chief executive, Michael Serbinis, in a Financial Post story. "Plus, with Kobo Vox you have the freedom to connect with friends, listen to music, watch movies, play games and discover new apps with almost unlimited choices."

With the release of both the Kobo Vox and the Kindle Fire so close to the holiday shopping season, the real test for Kobo and Amazon will be seeing which tablet tops everyone's wish list this year.

(Screengrab from Kobobooks.com)