NOVO7



The NOVO7 is a series of Android tablet computers manufactured by the Chinese company Ainol Electronics. The "7" represents the size of the tablet's screen (7 inches); Ainol's other products include the Novo 5 and Novo 8.

History
The first tablets in the Novo 7 line were the Novo 7 Basic and Novo 7 Advanced, released in early 2011. Unlike most competing tablets, the Novo 7 Basic used a MIPS-based CPU (1 GHz Ingenic JZ4770 XBurst), while the Advanced had a more common ARM CPU. Both had 800x480-pixel touch screens and were launched with Android 2.2, although the company later released updates to Android 3 and Android 4.

The company released the Novo 7 Paladin in late 2011, which became the world's first Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) tablet. Its specifications were similar to the Novo 7 Basic, featuring a 7-inch touchscreen, a 1 GHz MIPS processor, 512 MB of RAM, 8 to 16 GB of internal flash storage, an external microSDHC slot, a mini USB port, and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n). Two more tablets, the Aurora and the Elf, were added to the selection soon afterward, both using ARM CPUs.

Ainol's latest Novo 7 tablets are the Tornado, Mars, Elf II, and Aurora II. These all feature ARM processors, 8GB of internal storage—except for the Elf II, which also has a 16 GB model, and the Aurora II, which comes only in a 16 GB model—and 7-inch screens. The main difference between the models is the CPU speed and screen resolution. The Tornado has a 1 GHz single-core processor and an 800x480 screen, the Mars has the same processor but a 1024x600 pixel screen, and the Elf II/Aurora II has a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor (currently limited to 1.32 GHz) with a 1024x600 screen.

All Novo 7 models are budget-based tablets with lower specifications than others released at the same time, and thus are priced more affordably. They all support Wi-Fi, but none have built-in 3G support.

In August 2012, Ainol released a new flagship tablet, the Novo 7 Fire / Flame. The Novo 7 Fire / Flame includes a high-resolution 1280×800 IPS display with a 5-point capacitive multi-touch screen, along with full HD 1080p support. It has 16 GB of memory and 1 GB of RAM, runs on the Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, offers official access to Google Play, and features a 1.5 GHz AMLogic ARM 2nd generation Cortex-A9 based dual-core CPU. In terms of external interfaces, it contains a micro SD storage card slot, an HDMI port, a micro-USB port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth wireless connection, and 3G access through an external dongle USB device. It has two cameras: a 5 MP rear-facing camera with AF and auto flash, and a 2 MP front-facing webcam. It also supports hardware-accelerated Flash (access to Flash-based video), features a 3-axis gravity sensor, and contains a 5000 mAh battery.

In September 2012, Ainol announced the release of the Novo 7 Crystal with the latest Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean. The tablet was released for shipment on 28 September. The Novo 7 Crystal surpasses the specifications of the Novo 7 Elf II and looks to replace its predecessor. It has a special 7-inch MVA screen with 1024×600 pixel resolution and a wide 170° viewing angle.

Android operating system
On 28 March 2012, Ainol released updates to Android 4.0.3 v1.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) for the NOVO7 series. It fixes most of the bugs for [v4.0.3 v0.9] firmware that was released on 7 March 2012.

Community support
Some users are attempting to hack and create scripts to enhance the compatibility of the NOVO7 tablets.

At least two ports of CyanogenMod 9 (Android 4.0.4) have been made.

Specifications
(Note: no GPS )

NOVO7 Devices Table
While it is advertised as 1.5 GHz, the actual CPU speed is only 1.2 GHz. Verified on stock ROM (batch 3, chengnen.tan kernel).
 * Notes for NOVO7 Crystal