Verizon Adds Ellipsis 8 to Its Tablet Arsenal

Verizon Wireless has released its new Ellipsis 8 tablet, which is available to consumers immediately for $249.99, or $149.99 with a two-year contract, giving buyers another option in the tablet marketplace.

The Ellipsis 8, which has an 8-inch HD display, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 16GB of storage, a 5-megapixel rear camera and a nonremovable 5,000-mAh battery for more than 14 hours of use between charges, can be added to a customer’s Verizon More Everything account for $10 per month, according to Verizon. The device is XLTE-ready and can be purchased in Verizon Wireless stores or online, according to the company’s announcement.

The new device includes services such as Verizon Messages, which lets users send and receive texts on their tablet while the same messages are also automatically synced on a Verizon smartphone.

The tablet is manufactured for Verizon by Quanta, which also makes devices for a wide variety of other companies, including Apple’s new Apple Watch.

The Ellipsis 8, which runs on the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system, weighs 12.07 ounces and measures 8.1 inches by 4.9 inches, making it easy to hold in one hand, according to Verizon. The tablet comes with a wall and USB charger.

Verizon continues to build up its tablet offerings for customers with the new Ellipsis 8 as it grows the number of tablets from which wireless service subscribers can choose. In the third quarter of 2014, which ended Sept. 30, Verizon Wireless added 457,000 phones and 1.1 million tablets to its service customer numbers, according to a recent eWEEK report.

Verizon, the largest U.S. phone carrier, continues to be at war with its main rivals—AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile—in the continuing pursuit of new customers. This fall the stakes were raised by all four companies as they created new phone and tablet plans aimed at pouching customers from each other.