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"Low cost, high performance tablets are a big win for mobile consumers and a ...
an_m
Chinese firm offers sub-$100 Android 4.0 tablet
Dylan McGrath
12/5/2011 7:22 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO—A Chinese consumer electronics firm is offering for sale a media tablet based on Android 4.0 for less than $100, MIPS Technologies Inc. said Monday (Dec. 5).
The tablet, which is available in China and online through Ainol Electronics Co. Ltd., features a 7-inch capacitive multi-touch screen and is powered by a MIPS-based processor from China's Ingenic Semiconductor Co. Ltd. The tablet supports WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, USB 2.0, HDMI 1.3 and microSD, as well as 3-D graphics with the Vivante GC860 GPU, 1080p video decoding and dual front/rear cameras.
The tablet, NOVO7, is the first tablet based on Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich. It will be available in the U.S. and other geographies within the next several months under brands from companies including Leader International Inc. and OMG Electronics Ltd. It will also eventually be available in 8- and 9-inch form factors, according to MIPS.
According to Robert Bismuth, vice president of business development at MIPS, the functionality of the NOVO7 is roughly equivalent to Amazon's Kindle Fire, which is sold directly through Amazon for $199.
Bismuth said the company is working with other customers that will be bringing to market MIPS-based applications processors for tablets based on Android 4.0. Bismuth said the sub-$100 price point of the tablets is likely to be a sign of things to come. "The price advantage that the MIPS architecture brings to licenses helps to drive down the cost of all devices we are in," Bismuth added.
Bismuth pointed to an interesting proof point from recent history that underscores consumer interest in lower cost media tablets. When Hewlett-Packard Co. announced in August that it would discontinue its TouchPad tablets after just weeks on the market, it lowered the price point on the devices it still had in stock to $99 and $129. Consumers snapped them up within 48 hours.
"There was no future for [TouchPad]—no future support or future apps," Bismuth said. "But it did the four or five things that people wanted."
The Ingenic processor that powers the tablet is Ingenic's JZ4770 mobile applications processor, which leverages a MIPS-based XBurst CPU running at 1 GHz, MIPS said. The company said the XBurst processor's power-efficient architecture provides extended battery life and the tablet draws less than 400mA of power during active web browsing.
The JZ4770 is among the first MIPS-based SoCs targeted for mobile devices that delivers more than 1-GHz frequency, increasingly a requirement for tablets and other devices that incorporate rich multimedia and high-performance applications and functionality, according to MIPS.
"I'm thrilled to see the entrance of MIPS-based Android 4.0 tablets into the market," said to Andy Rubin, senior vice president of mobile at Google Inc., in a statement. "Low cost, high performance tablets are a big win for mobile consumers and a strong illustration of how Android's openness drives innovation and competition for the benefit of consumers around the world."
MIPS has posted a corporate video touting the tablet and its role in its creation on YouTube.
The tablet, which is available in China and online through Ainol Electronics Co. Ltd., features a 7-inch capacitive multi-touch screen and is powered by a MIPS-based processor from China's Ingenic Semiconductor Co. Ltd. The tablet supports WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, USB 2.0, HDMI 1.3 and microSD, as well as 3-D graphics with the Vivante GC860 GPU, 1080p video decoding and dual front/rear cameras.
The tablet, NOVO7, is the first tablet based on Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich. It will be available in the U.S. and other geographies within the next several months under brands from companies including Leader International Inc. and OMG Electronics Ltd. It will also eventually be available in 8- and 9-inch form factors, according to MIPS.
According to Robert Bismuth, vice president of business development at MIPS, the functionality of the NOVO7 is roughly equivalent to Amazon's Kindle Fire, which is sold directly through Amazon for $199.
Bismuth said the company is working with other customers that will be bringing to market MIPS-based applications processors for tablets based on Android 4.0. Bismuth said the sub-$100 price point of the tablets is likely to be a sign of things to come. "The price advantage that the MIPS architecture brings to licenses helps to drive down the cost of all devices we are in," Bismuth added.
Bismuth pointed to an interesting proof point from recent history that underscores consumer interest in lower cost media tablets. When Hewlett-Packard Co. announced in August that it would discontinue its TouchPad tablets after just weeks on the market, it lowered the price point on the devices it still had in stock to $99 and $129. Consumers snapped them up within 48 hours.
"There was no future for [TouchPad]—no future support or future apps," Bismuth said. "But it did the four or five things that people wanted."
The Ingenic processor that powers the tablet is Ingenic's JZ4770 mobile applications processor, which leverages a MIPS-based XBurst CPU running at 1 GHz, MIPS said. The company said the XBurst processor's power-efficient architecture provides extended battery life and the tablet draws less than 400mA of power during active web browsing.
The JZ4770 is among the first MIPS-based SoCs targeted for mobile devices that delivers more than 1-GHz frequency, increasingly a requirement for tablets and other devices that incorporate rich multimedia and high-performance applications and functionality, according to MIPS.
"I'm thrilled to see the entrance of MIPS-based Android 4.0 tablets into the market," said to Andy Rubin, senior vice president of mobile at Google Inc., in a statement. "Low cost, high performance tablets are a big win for mobile consumers and a strong illustration of how Android's openness drives innovation and competition for the benefit of consumers around the world."
MIPS has posted a corporate video touting the tablet and its role in its creation on YouTube.
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hm
12/5/2011 7:57 PM EST
Wonderful news for MIPS. It is nice to see low cost affordable tablet for average consumer.
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dylan.mcgrath
12/5/2011 8:04 PM EST
I'll be very interested in reviews of this product. If indeed it's got equivalent functionality to Kindle Fire, it could be a real game changer.
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prabhakar_deosthali
12/6/2011 1:25 AM EST
This surely is a competition to Govt of India's initiative to provide low cost tablet AAKASH at sub $100 price to Indian students. This product is supposed to be coming from UK and if Chinese offer a similar product in open market, the govt project is in danger.
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agk
12/6/2011 2:14 AM EST
The 1 Ghz processor,low power consumption, android 4.o,open GL ES 2.0 graphics, front and back cameras, multi touch capacitive touch screen, sd card slot,hdmi port,facility to check emails. great design for $100 and looking for buying in India very soon.
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Goffers
12/6/2011 5:37 AM EST
I think I see now why ARM recently announced the Cortex-A7 in-order processor. Back to pure RISC to compete on low power consumption.
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goafrit
12/6/2011 9:29 AM EST
Now Apple should be worried in China! Who will cough out that high bucks for iPad. This company should carry go. Nice one
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bmws88
12/6/2011 2:18 PM EST
Novo 7 is sold out at ainovo.vom. Novo 8 sells for US $167 and gets a lot of one star ratings on amazon's Chinese site.
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mmeyer
12/6/2011 4:34 PM EST
People bought the TouchPads because they planned to run Android on them. "There was no future for [TouchPad]—no future support or future apps" couldn't be more wrong!
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BLinder
12/6/2011 6:33 PM EST
Well gee, if you need to do a marketing analysis just use eBay, most of this stuff is old news. You just need to glance over to the side bar on eBay to see the words China delivery. Also you can visit other Asia product distribution sites and get an idea of what is being plunked out on the market...you would be surprised, so go take a look!
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goafrit
12/6/2011 10:46 PM EST
Why use the words "Chinese firm". Everything is made in China these days. It is natural that they would be the people that will come up with this idea.
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triest
12/7/2011 5:15 AM EST
because this company is a real chinese company
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Horaira
12/7/2011 3:53 AM EST
looking to buy it ..
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Sanjib.Acharya
12/7/2011 10:53 AM EST
If NOVO7 is being sold @ $100 or less, having a capacitive touch-screen on it and having similar features as Kindle Fire, I can't imagine what the BOM cost would be and the margin the company is betting on. I'll eagerly wait for a "Tear-down" activity on NOVO7.
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Code Monkey
12/8/2011 1:34 PM EST
Looks like a great GUI for embedded apps.
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an_m
12/9/2011 3:15 PM EST
in the uk that will probably translate to gbp 199.99
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eewiz
12/12/2011 3:45 AM EST
"Low cost, high performance tablets are a big win for mobile consumers and a strong illustration of how Android's openness drives innovation and competition for the benefit of consumers around the world."
Google didnt even release honeycomb source code in public. Talk about openness.
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