14 DAY TRIAL // While the iPad has been selling by the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, consumers have been constantly on the lookout for pertinent alternatives. Still, even with the several self-proclaimed iPad killers out there, there hasn't really been word of any slate that truly outmatches Apple's product, at least not one that will be brought out soon. This state of affairs seems ready to change now that Foxconn has entered the picture.
The NVIDIA Tegra 2 system-on-chip (SoC) is already known for being both highly capable and energy efficient. It is also infamous for having already spawned more than 50 tablets or slate-like electronics. Many of these will be shown off at Computex, and, while there is no doubt that some may not survive on today's market, some definitely will. Gizmodo claims to have discovered one of the more promising models, measuring 8.9 inches.
After ensuring that there were as little design similarities as possible to Apple's iPad, Foxconn made a point of pushing performance to as high a threshold as possible. As such, the configuration is based on the Tegra SoC, with a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor, whose core clock is of no less than 1GHz. This CPU is backed up by one whole gigabyte of memory (1GB RAM). There are also 512MB of SLC NAND Flash memory, Bluetooth 2.1, two USB ports, a glossy capacitive multi-touch screen and a front-facing webcam.
It can already be seen that, at least in terms of hardware, Foxconn's slate outdoes the iPad quite completely. To prove it, NVIDIA even showcased, yesterday, a pre-production model running a few 3D games. What remains to be seen is how the widescreen will impact on the device's usability when not gaming. More information is bound to emerge at Computex, of course, since that is where this tablet, along with many others, will rear its head.