Is the Kobo Vox the Next Good Cheap iPad Alternative?

As HP proved a couple months ago, Americans LOVE powerful and cheap tablet computers. Now sales of the new $200 Amazon Kindle Fire are literally exploding through the roof... despite the fact that it's significantly less powerful than the top-selling Apple iPad tablet. Now there's a new low-cost iPad alternative that some experts are predicting could be the best of them all: the Kobo Vox!

This new affordable tablet has a 7-inch display and will sell for just $199. It's more of a traditional Android-based tablet than the Kindle Fire, with the normal app icon interface. It weighs just over 14 ounces, features a SD memory card slot, and has a new type of anti-reflective screen that's based on the material used for airplane cockpits.  This first version does not come with a camera, external microphone, or 3G internet connectivity. But it does come with a nice low price that consumers are sure to love!

According to Kobo the Vox's main advantage over the Kindle Fire is its software. It's much more "open" than the Amazon tablet's apps and allows you to take purchased content off of the device. So, for example, you can transfer an ebook to another Android device if you choose to do so. It also features some pretty cool "social reading" functionality that allows users to easily communicate about a piece of content.

We say: The Kobo Vox sounds freaking GREAT! A cheap iPad-alternative tablet that doesn't have all the pain-in-the-butt issues associated with the Amazon Kindle Fire. More competition is always good and we're sure the "ultimate" $99 buy-one-for-every-room tablet will soon be on the market!

Learn some mo': Kobo Vox, Social-Reading Android Competitor to the Kindle Fire w/ Photos