Acer’s newest Android tablet is now available in stores, making it one of the most affordable Honeycomb devices on the market.
The Iconia Tab A100 has a sleek 7-inch display, making it on par with the smallest versions of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab as well as the Blackberry Playbook. But it’s cheaper than either of those options.
At just $330 for the 8 GB model, the A100 will certainly speak to the budget-conscious consumers out there. With an Nvidia dual-core 1 GHz Tegra 2 processor, 1024×600 resolution, and rear-facing (5 MP) and front-facing (2 MP) digital cameras, its specs defy the price.
Even more noteworthy is that it runs on Android 3.2, the latest version of Android’s tablet-optimized software. This makes it the first 7-inch tablet to do so.
The device also comes packed with 1 GB of RAM, an accelerometer, and of course the standard connections like a 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD, and support for microUSB 2.0.
Pre-loaded apps include Flash Player 10.3, Social Jogger, and LumiRead, the latter two of which are Acer’s proprietary e-reading and social network integration apps.
Acer has also teamed with Walmart to offer its own model of the device, mainly for marketing and retail differentiation purposes. It has the same features as all other models.
The A100 available both with 8 GB of storage or 16 GB, the latter of which costs a reasonable $20 more, making it $350.
The market for Android tablets has been largely a disappointment so far, with many of the anticipated and hyped devices failing to perform well at retail. The iPad is just too much of a competition, and until developers start releasing Honeycomb-specific apps, it will be an uphill battle.
The Iconia Tab A100 is available now in the US at major electronics retailers.
