Sub-$100 Android 4.0 Tablet Coming Soon

jfruhlinger writes "One of the reasons the iPad has stayed at the top of the tablet heap for so long is that — in contrast with the story of the Mac and PC 25 years ago — the iPad has remained competitive with its rivals on price. That may be starting to change, with cheaper tablets like the Amazon Fire coming to market. And now, the sub-$100 Novo7 is on sale in China, sporting Android 4.0. It promises to arrive in the U.S. for a similar price point soon." The official press release from MIPS has a bit more detail. Of interest is the use of a MIPS SoC designed by Ingenic.

Re:Capacitive screen

[obarthelemy]

That one is capacitive. I actually bought their earlier effort, the $150 Novo8, and was pleasantly surprised: 8", 1280x800 capacitive TN, HD video playback with HDMI, OK build quality. What spoiled that was the 3hr battery life, but I knew that before buying it.

Mostly (Totally.) ARMless

[oPless]

Interesting, but it's MIPS, not ARM

There goes a load of games, and whatnot ... but on the plus side they're paying license fees to MIPS, which prior to this they weren't, which is nice.

Re:Not really...

[ozmanjusri]

I just bought a couple of these, though the current versions still have Android 2.3. They're remarkably well made for the price, and also remarkably responsive to use. They're not an iPad killer in that they're only 7" and 800 x 480 screens, but that doesn't mean they won't find their own niche.

Price is China only

[Zoxed]

USD 99 is price in China: US version estimated at +USD 50 = USD 149

Re:Not really...

[Richard_at_work]

The iPad can definitely be sluggish - regularly I have to wait more than 10 seconds for iBooks to display the book pages on opening, or go to swipe twice to turn a page because I thought it hadn't registered the first swipe only to have it turn two pages when the first swipe is eventually carried out.

Also, the iPads Safari has a tendency to reload pages when you switch between "tabs" - which can be fucking annoying when you are swapping between pages to cut and paste information or filling out a form... Even though I haven't added any new applications recently, it does seem to have gotten worse. Safaris UI can also lag a lot, with attempts to click on the bookmarks or "tabs" icons taking several seconds to register some times.

And thats without any other apps lingering in the background...

I love my iPad, I use it every day and its my primary browsing tool for on the couch or out and about, but it does have its foibles.

Re:...no, really.

[PopeRatzo]

and the 10+ hour battery life allows for a couple days use away from home without lugging that bulky wall wart.

10 hours over a "couple days" is appropriate for a toy, but not an expensive tool.

Re:...no, really.

[Anonymous Coward]

Can't wait until they pass it down to me. It may be sluggish after a couple years by the time I get it.

Unfortunately by this time your non-removable battery will probably be holding around 1/3 of its original charge level.

Re:...no, really.

[ozmanjusri]

Furthermore, what other available tablet offers much better battery life?

The Asus Transformer.

Re:Not a competitor

[somersault]

until there are word processors, Exchange support, or other basic functionality, Android tablets will be considered at best a novelty.

WTF are you talking about? For one thing there is Google Docs. For another, my Dell Streak came with "QuikOffice" or something like that that does word docs. Not that I'd really want to use an office suite on a tablet when I have a laptop available.

Android has had Exchange support since version 1.5 - ie since 2009. You are either lazy and ignorant, or flat out trolling.

Finally, there is device security. There has yet to be a single piece of malware on an iPad in the wild. Shows you something doesn't it?

Sure [sophos.com].

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:...no, really.

[biscuits1978]

iOS has the apps, not just iPad. I'll give them that much.

Apps come as an advantage because people tend to develop for a platform that everyone is buying (for reason, see my post). Now that Android tablets are starting to become relevant, and with a new OS that is much more available than Honeycomb, I can see developers having less barriers to creating tablet-friendly applications for Android tablets.

And if Facetime/front-facing cameras are the ONE reason why you went with iPhones, then YOU need to get your ass out of the sand yourself. Facetime is not the only application that allows video chatting on a mobile platform. Front-facing cameras? Let's see:

• * Samsung Exhibit 4G - $30 (after mail-in rebate, $80 before mail-in)
• * myTouch 4G - $50 (after mail-in rebate, $100 before)
• * G2x - $99 (after mail-in rebate)
• * Samsung Infuse 4G - $50
• * LG Thrill 4G - $99

That's just with AT&T and T-Mobile.

Re:Capacitive screen

[tlhIngan]

Yet for some reason, many items tend to cost the same in euros as they do in dollars. Taxes, customs and shipping, I suppose.

And differences in pricing.

You see, in North America, our prices are sans taxes. That $140 will be $155 after Canadian taxes, for example. Plus environmental fees and the like.

In Europe, you have stuff like 20% VAT and 20% duties and such, which are built into the price. Your EUR140 device, you pay EUR140.

And nevermind the various consumer protection laws (which are much stronger in Europe). 90 day warranties are common in North America, you'd have to buy extended warranties ($40+) to get to your 2 year guaranteed by EU laws and such.