"Cricket's Dual-Core Android Tablet: Hands On"

[guru]

Saw this posted on Ho-fo by berry and thought we should have a discussion or a post on it.
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Cricket's Dual-Core Android Tablet: Hands On
Sascha Segan By Sascha Segan

Android side ORLANDO—Cricket Wireless's first tablet will be a seven-inch, Wi-Fi-only Android device with a Qualcomm dual-core processor. I got some time with the tablet, which is made by California firm Anydata, today.

The new tablet doesn't have a name, but it has some interesting specs. It weighs a little less than a pound and is about the same size as Samsung's Galaxy Tab. It has a broad bezel around its 1024-by-600 screen, a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front and a 3-megapixel camera on the back. There's an HDMI out port, and the battery is a roomy 4000 mAh.
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The most interesting part, though, is the processor: a 1.2-Ghz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon unit, which is more powerful than I've seen in most small, low-cost tablets. Anydata may also develop a design with a 1.5-Ghz, dual-core Qualcomm unit, Anydata vice president of sales and marketing Raymond Kim said.

"We can use top-shelf hardware while still making it at a competitive price point," Kim said.

In another cool move, the tablet has an HDMI output port that can mirror the device's display, so you can play Angry Birds, surf the Web or play videos on your TV.

The tablet currently runs Google's Android Gingerbread software, which is designed for phones. Kim said Anydata is working with Google to make Honeycomb work on seven-inch tablets.
CTIA 2011

But Anydata's plans have been thrown into question by a BusinessWeek report Thursday that Google has decided to indefinitely delay the public release of Honeycomb. Anydata could still install Honeycomb through a special agreement with Google, but it's unclear if the company has such an agreement.

The tablet will come with Google Mobile Services and some preloaded apps including Facebook, Kindle and Adobe Flash, Kim said.

I spent a few minutes playing with the device, and - well - it's an Android tablet. It looks and feels almost exactly like a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and it runs all the usual Android apps. It's relatively light but solid, and it looks and feels serious rather than sexy. Anydata's Android is a pretty clean stock version, so there aren't many tablet-centric flourishes.

"If we can't do something right, we might as well not touch it; re-skinning the UI is a huge undertaking," Kim said.

I loaded CNN.com and it came up pretty quickly and looked sharp. I couldn't run benchmarking software because the device wasn't connected to a Google account for Market access.

The tablet will initially be Wi-Fi only. A version with embedded 3G is coming in the third quarter of this year. Earlier this week, Cricket's vice president of devices Matt Stoiber said the carrier's 7-inch tablet would be Wi-Fi-only, but sold in Cricket's stores.

Anydata's Kim said he's targeting a price $100-200 cheaper than the current going rate of $499 for the Wi-Fi versions of the iPad and BlackBerry Playbook. If his company can bring in a dual-core tablet with no contract for $300-400, he may have a good thing going.

[leadnerd]

Who wants a 10 Droid Tab. Let me know it isn't cricket branded.