The tablet, which is available in China and online through Ainol Electronics Co. Ltd., features a 7-inch capacitive multi-touch screen and is powered by a MIPS-based processor from China's Ingenic Semiconductor Co. Ltd. The tablet supports WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, USB 2.0, HDMI 1.3 and microSD, as well as 3-D graphics with the Vivante GC860 GPU, 1080p video decoding and dual front/rear cameras.
The tablet, NOVO7, is the first tablet based on Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich. It will be available in the U.S. and other geographies within the next several months under brands from companies including Leader International Inc. and OMG Electronics Ltd. It will also eventually be available in 8- and 9-inch form factors, according to MIPS.
According to Robert Bismuth, vice president of business development at MIPS, the functionality of the NOVO7 is roughly equivalent to Amazon's Kindle Fire, which is sold directly through Amazon for $199.
Bismuth said the company is working with other customers that will be bringing to market MIPS-based applications processors for tablets based on Android 4.0. Bismuth said the sub-$100 price point of the tablets is likely to be a sign of things to come. "The price advantage that the MIPS architecture brings to licenses helps to drive down the cost of all devices we are in," Bismuth added.
Bismuth pointed to an interesting proof point from recent history that underscores consumer interest in lower cost media tablets. When Hewlett-Packard Co. announced in August that it would discontinue its TouchPad tablets after just weeks on the market, it lowered the price point on the devices it still had in stock to $99 and $129. Consumers snapped them up within 48 hours.
"There was no future for [TouchPad]—no future support or future apps," Bismuth said. "But it did the four or five things that people wanted."
Chinese firm offers sub-$100 Android 4.0 tablet
No comments:
Post a Comment