ZDNet: As The Tablet Turns – Android Model For $100?
The Via tablets will use ARM processors and the Android operating system, touted as the front-running rival for Apple’s iPad tablet technology. But it will feature a resistive touchscreen (needing a stylus) rather than the iPad’s (and others’) capacitive multitouch technology.
“Via Technologies thinks it’s found a way to compete against the iPad—not just a lower price, but a iPod Nano price. The processor company tells Bloomberg Businessweek that a handful of tablets using its technology will be available in the second half of this year for prices ranging from $100 to $150. Yes, you read that right.
Even better, the devices will run the Android OS, which is shaping up to be a more intriguing competitor than Windows 7 in the tablet space. According to Via, these specific tablets, which will be built by its Chinese manufacturing partners, will run on an ARM-based chip. No specs have been officially announced, but Engadget did get a chance to gander at the tablets at Computex, which ran Android 1.6 on a (Via subsidiary) WonderMedia WM8505 ARM 9-based processor using a 7-inch resistive touchscreen instead of a larger multi-capacitive display like the one the iPad uses.”