If 2010 was the year of the e-reader showcased at tech conferences worldwide from CES to Computex, 2011 is shaping up to be the year of the tablet computer. Case and point, Viliv is showing off three new tablets that will be running Android and Windows.
First up to the plate we have the Viliv X7 Android Tablet. No word yet on the exact version on the operating system it is running but we hear it has 3G, which might allow this unit access to the Android Market. We also know that this version is a 7 inch edition, so it’s comparable to the Samsung Galaxy Tab in size and dimension.
Google has a high criteria to allow tablets to have access to the marketplace. This is why you see a large number of tablets that do not have full access to the Holy Land of apps for Android. Some factors that Google considers when granting access to their services such as Gmail, Google Voice, and the Android Marketplace is GPS, 3G and WI (and these hardware requirements are just a smattering of features a tablet must have in order to get Google Certification). Obviously, this makes the tablet increase in cost, so budget tablets have to do without it and devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab end up around the $600.00 range which makes them prohibitively expensive but allow you full access. Many budget or lower cost tablets allow you certain applications or their alternative to the Android market, that may feature apps like Facebook and Twitter, but not nearly the selection as one would get in the official marketplace.
The second tablet is dubbed the Viliv X10 Android Tablet which is a 10.1 inch Android tablet with a resolution of around 1355 x 768. It is also being billed as the longest battery life in the ten inch class of tablets. We first checked out this one at Computex in 2010 and got a chance to expore it. The prototype had an inbuilt accelerometer, an integrated front facing camera, an SD card reader, along with a USB port. Connectivity options with the X10 is limited to WiFi at present but Viliv has said there will be 3G as well as WiMAX support available soon. The other significant advantage with the X10 is its battery life that can last up to 10 hours. The Viliv X10 on display was running Android 2.1 but Vilv said the X10 will be running the upgraded 2.2 version of the OS by the time it is ready for a market release. What this also meant is that there will be support for Flash. Finally, this one had an ARM based processor, which we believe will remain in the markey release version.
The lone Windows Tablet is known as the Viliv X70 Windows7 Slate which also should be around seven inches, but no additional data is known about this tablet as of press time.
CES this year should be excited and we at Good e-Reader will be attending this conference to bring you the latest Interviews, Reviews, Previews and Hands on Video of everything of note in the Tablet PC and E-Reader arena.
via JKMobile
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
