When Kobo originally released its seminal ARC tablet last year, the company promised a Jelly Bean update. Kobo has been true to its word and released a new firmware update today that will open up a wide new world of enhancements for ARC owners.
One of the tremendous benefits of the new update is that it will allow customers to use Google Now. This is the voice recognition software that can search your device and the internet at large. You can also customize your device with “cards” that will give you local places to eat, drink, or watch sporting events.
Kobo Arc users will never miss a beat due to a richer notification experience. They can now receive action notifications directly within the notifications area as well as expand and collapse notifications to display more or less detail.
There are some great features also, such as Face Unlock, optimized voice recognition, boosted predictive typing, and Voice Search. What I really like about Voice Search is that you just have to say “Google” and it will call up the search bar for you!
It’s strange, but many tablets out there always say they will upgrade to Jelly Bean and never do. This is partly due to lackluster sales or another device coming down the pipe that might sell more units with a modern OS.
The Jelly Bean update is available right now! All you have to do is hit the settings menu, about Tablet, and check for update. The full update is around 320 MB, so it might take awhile if you are on a slow connection!
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
