14 DAY TRIAL // A funny thing is currently happening in China. As you might well know, as Intel tries to infiltrate the market in the country, more and more tablets are shipping out sporting this particular chip architecture.
But some tablet manufacturers have started offering an odd choice to their consumers – swap the operating system on the tablet from Android to Windows. And it’s all free of charge.
Windows 8.1 firmware can already be downloaded and installed on the Teclast X98 3G tablet that arrives with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, as seen on CnGadget.
The device takes advantage of a 9.7-inch display with 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution and runs on the Intel Bay Trail super popular chip platform, which powers so many slates these days.
Installing the Windows firmware will result in permanently removing the Android software from the device, although it’s not unlikely that someone will go even further with this and provide a way to dual-boot both operating systems.
But Telcast is just one of the Chinese makers willing to take a plunge and offer Windows 8.1 free of charge, if you want it.
As Asian market watcher Mike Cane tells us, Onda will start doing the same, at least for two of its tablet pieces, the Onda V819i and Onda V975i.
But something is not right here. Microsoft might be willing to offer Windows licenses free of charge to device market building tablets smaller than 9 inches, but the Telclast one has a bigger form factor.
On top of that, it’s pretty odd for a device maker to offer downloadable Windows firmware just like that, so is it possible that Onda or Teclast didn’t even ask Microsoft’s permission before doing that?
If we are to look at history, everything seems to be possible in China. Remember, Microsoft and Google teamed up to stop the dual-boot ASUS Transformer Book Duet from launching on the market, but their disapproval didn’t stop Chinese device makers from offering similar products.
Anyway, for the time being, those craving a Windows tablet with high resolution could go ahead and try converting the Teclast slate into one.
However, if you choose to do this, you should be advised that your tablet will suffer from some issues. According to the info we have, the cameras will not take normal photos and the 3G connection won't work either, after installing the firmware.
But if you really want the Windows 8.1 experience, maybe you’ll be able to get over these issues.