Related Articles
ViewSonic is set to unveil the industry’s first 7-inch Android Honeycomb tablet at month’s end, according to sources cited by tech site Pocket-Lint.
Josh P. Miller/CNET
The ViewPad 7x will debut on May 31 at the Computex computer show in Taipei, Taiwan, Pocket-Lint reported, and will be a follow-up rather than a replacement to ViewSonic’s existing ViewPad 7 tablet, which runs Android 2.2, aka Froyo. Following its late May unveiling, the device should reach consumers in June.
Details are scarce, but according to Pocket-Lint, the ViewPad 7x will sport an Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, cameras in front and back, and support for the high-speed HSPA+ networks offered by AT&T and T-Mobile. The tablet would also include both HDMI and DLNA ports to pipe content through a TV or media center device.
Honeycomb is the first version of the Android mobile OS designed specifically for tablets. It debuted earlier this year on Motorola’s 10-inch Xoom tablet, but the race has been on to see who will be first to launch a 7-inch tablet with Honeycomb out of the box.
Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab is still running Android 2.2, while Research In Motion’s 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook is using its own QNX operating system.
Acer is busy prepping its new 7-inch Iconia Tab A100, due to come with Honeycomb. Sprint is likewise getting ready to launch its 7-inch HTC Flyer, aka Evo View 4G, also sporting Honeycomb.
Acer’s Iconia Tab A100 was originally set to ship on April 20, according to some reports. But Amazon.com’s U.K. site now seems unsure of its availability. The Honeycomb-equipped HTC Flyer will reportedly launch sometime in June.
So if the reports are true, ViewSonic could narrowly beat Sprint to the market with the industry’s first 7-inch Honeycomb tablet.
