It seems to be becoming a norm of tablets sporting some pretty high-end specs but being very affordable and low-priced, with $199 often being the starting price. In the UK and Canada, a new $199 tablet has gone on sale, the Kobo Arc, a 7″ tablet that runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, with an update to Android 4.1 on its way.

The display resolution is a fairly good 1280 x 800 pixels, which should put it right next to the Nexus 7’s screen resolution. Under the hood, there is a 1.5GHz OMAP 4470 dual-core processor and 1GB RAM powering the tablet, and it comes in 16, 32, and 64GB storage models.

There is also a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera capable of recording 720p videos, and a battery that is good for 10 hours of reading and 2 weeks of standby. Kobos is also in the process of acquiring Aquafadas, in order to use their digital publishing software and platforms to provide a huge range of media content to its Arc and other tablets’ customers.

The Kobo Arc is currently available for purchase at 550 high street WH Smith stores in the UK and at Indigo-Chapters, Best Buy, and Future Shop in Canada, for $199.99 (16GB), $249.99 (32GB) and $299.99 (64GB), and will also launch in France this Monday, November 19th.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, Barnes & Nobles’ Nook HD, Google’s Nexus 7, and now the Kobo Arc (with access to both Play Store and its own content), all available at $199. Choice has never been this good and plentiful, has it?