Taiwan's ViewSonic has applied the same IPS (in-plane switching) display technology used in its award-winning monitors to a new tablet heading for European users. The screen of the budget-friendly ViewPad 10e is said to have the same pixel density and resolution as Apple's iPad 2, and like the ARCHOS G9's, the Android tablet makes do with just the one front-facing camera.
ViewSonic's latest tablet addition features a 9.7-inch screen, with 1024 x 768 pixel resolution at 132 ppi with a 400-nit brightness rating, that should cater for outdoor as well as indoor use. The ViewPad 10e runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) - with the company's ViewScene 3D custom user interface - and is powered by a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor supported by 512GB of DDR3 system memory. There's 4GB of internal solid state storage with Micro-SD card expansion, HDMI and USB connectivity, and it comes with 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0/2.1 with EDR wireless functionality.
There's no mention of access to Android Market via the 241.6 x 188.6 x 9.1 mm (9.51 x 7.42 x 0.35-inch), 620g (21.8 ounce) ViewPad 10e, but users will find the Kindle app ready to use and thousands of compatible apps available via the 1Mobile Apps Store. Rounding off the specs is a 1.3 megapixel camera to the front, stereo speakers and a 3.5mm audio jack, and a 5400mAh Lithium-Polymer battery which ViewSonic says is good for over 200 hours on standby.
There's no official word on pricing or availability at the time of writing, but according to Dutch site PortableGear, the ViewPad 10e will be priced at EUR249.95 (about US$345).
