Tablet runs the 1 GHz dual-core but was not given a price

Dec 2, 2011 13:15 GMT  ·  By

The NVIDIA Tegra 2 SoC is the platform that lies at the heart of the Iconia Tab A200, the newest slate to leave Acer's labs and which already got set up with a more or less exact update time frame.

Powered by the dual-core ARM platform (1 GHz clock speed), the tablet is loaded with the Android honeycomb operating system, but not for long.

According to the announcement, it won't be long until Ice Cream Sandwich settles in: the update will happen at some point in January.

Strangely, even though this much was disclosed, Acer didn't say what price the slate sports, or where it will show up in stores.

It is already shipping, though, so that information is not too far off.

The 1 GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 is backed up by 1 GB of RAM (random access memory) and plays with information located on either 8 GB or 16 GB of NAND Flash storage.

Perhaps more relevant is the Acer Rin UI (user interface) layer, which turns screens into accessible apps, thus making multitasking easier.

This UI actually got demonstrated back at Computex, in June, on a MeeGo tablet that never got to actually be released.

That said, the connectivity and I/O of the A200 are what consumers are used to looking forward to by now, with MicroSD card slot, full-size USB port, Ethernet, WiFi and a 2-megapixel webcam on the front, for video chats.

As for the rest, the display has a native resolution of 1,290 x 800 pixels, the battery life is of 8 hours video playback (400 hours standby) and there are GPS, a G-sensor, agyrometer and other features as well.

Oddly enough, there is no rear camera, so any photo shooting and such will have to be carried out by the same front one.

All in all, there is not too much novelty to this invention, beyond the UI, so whatever sales it scores will hinge on the affordability and speed of delivery.