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One of my favorite 7" Android tablets, from a company you've probably never heard of will indeed make it to the US. Enspert was hoping to partner with Best Buy to come to the US, but it looks like Dynamism picked them already. They will begin pre-sales on February 1st for just $349. That's a pretty good deal for a device with internals similar to the much pricier Galaxy Tab (android froyo 2.2 on a Samsung Cortex A8 1GHz CPU) . The only real drawback is the lower res screen at just 800x480. On the other hand, that means that most Android apps should run fine natively, without the scaling issues the Tab can have. The tablet has great design and felt good in the hands. It won't be coming with 3G, but it will have full google certification, which means market access. I still hope they make it to Best Buy, as this is a good compromise between the cheaper, junky android tablets, and the pricier Samsung Galaxy Tab. You still get good performance in a solid, well designed shell. The only things you have to give up are 3G and the higher res screen. Source: jkkmobile
Viewsonic is covering all the popular form factors with their new tablet line-up and this is the 7" version. While it has some bells a whistles like GPS, 3G, a gazillion sensors, two cameras, and full Google access, it's still stuck with a low res screen (800x480) driven by a slower (only 600 MHz) processor. With an ESP of $459, even with retailers trying to come in lower, I don't find this tablet to be a particularly good value. Unless you need the GPS and 3G, the Archos 70 provides a 1GHz processor in a similar package for only $275 direct (when they have them in stock again). If you do need the GPS and 3G, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is coming down in price.
Viewsonic brought a lot of new tablets to show off at CES this year, but they also brought some old ones. They had a neat lineup of their tablets from the past. It was a nice collection of slates, convertibles, and PDAs. Viewsonic's been in this game for a while.
It's pushing things to be calling a 4" device a "tablet," but there was a crowd around the bigger tablets, and this thing was free, so I played with it and I like what I saw. The ViewPad 4 is a PDA sized Android tablet running 2.2 on a 4.1" (800x480) capacitive multitouch screen. The "tablet" will be driven by a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, making it more of a mid-range performer against all the Tegra 2 phones coming out. And yes, as it turns out, it will have the capability to make voice calls when it comes out in mid 2011. Pricing will be up to the carriers according to ViewSonic. It's a solidly built device that felt really sturdy, although a little heavy. It will come with both a front facing camera for video chatting and a rear facing 5MP camera for photos/video. A nice bonus that comes with full phone functionality is full access to the Google experience, which includes the app store. On it's own this is a neat little device. As an android based iPod touch competitor, it's a neat device as it would only be competing against the Archos 43. But as an Android based smartphone, it would have to be very well priced to have a chance.
The Samsung 7 series is an interesting take on the convertible tablet. Rather than look for a new way for the screen to rotate, like Dell's Inspiron Duo, Samsung went the slider route. This form factor is common among cell phones, but does is it work for a 10" tablet? Yes, yes it does. Samsung has managed to keep their slider to 2.2lbs, which is the same weight as the ExoPC and clones. Sure, you're getting 1" less screen space, but the same number of pixels, and a full physical keyboard. Samsung has also managed to get their slider to open to a much more useful angle than Asus. The Asus slider's screen still sits back at a pretty steep angle, even when fully open. The Samsung's screen will come up to a normal netbook level. The main advantage to this option over the tablet + BT keyboard option (which are best on a table), is that the Samsung will sit comfortably in a lap in laptop mode. With no twisting hinge to bulk the device up, it's also smaller and lighter than other traditional netvertibles like the Asus t101-mt, which was also on display at the Intel booth. While Samsung was rather stingy with their device, hiding them behind velvet ropes and never letting them leave the hands of the reps, Intel's tablet folks allowed me to hold it in both tablet mode and netbook mode, although they did the sliding. The tablet is thin and light for being a full convertible, and would definitely be worth the minimal bulk over a slate for those who want an attached keyboard. Now for the meaty bits. The 7 series will be powered by an Atom Oaktrail processor running at 1.66GHz, which is a notch up from most of the Oaktrail machines we've seen. It will also come with 2GB of RAM, and either a 32GB or 64GB SSD. WiFi and Bluetooth will be standard with optional 3G connectivity. The 10.1" capacitive multitouch screen runs at 1366x768 which I find to provide a significant boost in usability over the netbook standard 1024x600. Samsung is also promising 9 hours of run time. A final bonus usage case as described in the press release: "The Samsung 7 Series acts as a connective hub with other devices to improve the entertainment experience thanks to Samsung's device-to-device connection solutions. Samsung AllShare™ enables users to control, search, swap and play videos, photos, and music across a full range of DLNA® (Digital Living Network Alliance) certified Samsung devices, ranging from cameras and smart phones to TVs and PCs. "
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