ViewSonic to launch 7-inch tablet with Google Honeycomb OS

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

ViewSonic plans to launch the world's first 7-inch tablet PC running on Google Honeycomb OS soon. The 7-inch tablet will be powered by a dual-core Tegra CPU with a display solution of 1024 by 600 and support Wi-Fi technology initially.

The company pointed out that Google is currently working on optimizing its Android Market applications to allow them to better fit onto 10.1-inch tablet PCs, and is also working on resolving some issues with Android's compatibility on 7-inch tablet PCs.

 If Google is able to resolve the issues before the end of July, when the Taipei Computer Application Show will start, ViewSonic plans to start selling its 7-inch device at the show, and if not, the company will push pre-orders.

ViewSonic pointed out that smartphones have a high market penetration rate in Taiwan and any smartphone with Android 2.2 or above can be used as a wireless router for tablet PCs to connect to the Internet; therefore, the company will initially only push Wi-Fi support for its 7-inch tablet PC.

In consideration of markets such as India or Indonesia, which do not have a strong Wi-Fi environment as in Taiwan, ViewSonic, in the near future, will also launch 3G models to better serve these markets, the company noted.