Viewsonic Introduces Two New ViewPad Android And Windows 7 Tablets

Viewsonic has just announced that they will be releasing two new tablets in the United States; the ViewPad 7 and the ViewPad 10. The ViewPad 7, as you might have already guessed, features a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 800x480 and will run on Android 2.2 Froyo. The ViewPad 7 also features WiFi 802.11g connectivity, Bluetooth, USB connectivity, and two built in cameras.On the back you will find a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus, while the front features a 0.3 megapixel camera, presumably for video conferencing. For storage you get a built in 512 MB of memory, which is expandable to up to 32 GB via a microSD card slot. As for battery life, Viewsonic is saying the the ViewPad 7 will be able to give you up to 10 hours of use. The ViewPad 7 will also feature 3G connectivity, although there is no word on which carrier, and will have access to the Android Market, an impressive feat for a tablet considering all of the cheap Market-less tablets that have been released lately. The ViewPad 7 will be released sometime in November, and will be available for the hefty price of $480. This seems like a huge price to pay for a device like this, considering that you could get a decent netbook or even a cheap laptop for this price. The second device that Viewsonic has announced is the ViewPad 10, which features a 10.1 inch capacitive multitouch display with a resolution of 1024x600. Unlike the ViewPad 7 the ViewPad 10 will dual boot Windows 7 Home Premium and Android 1.6. The Windows 7 option is great, but Android 1.6 is extremely outdated. Aside from these features the ViewPad 10 will also feature a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 16 GB SSD, a microSD card slot, an accelerometer, and a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera with a built in microphone for video conferencing. The ViewPad 10 will be launching in the first part of 2011 at a price of $630, which is overpriced in our opinion. The features of both the Viewsonic ViewPad 7 and the Viewsonic ViewPad 10 seem great, but the prices are immense and way too high for tablets in this range. Of course, we don't know exactly what the tablets will be like so we can't say anything about their performance, but unless they are something amazing the ViewPad 7's price of $480 and the ViewPad 10's price of $630 are too much to pay for a tablet with these features. The official press release and another image are below.

Viewsonic Unveils Android™-Based ViewPads®

Thousands of open-sourced apps available for 7” Android 2.2 3.5G capable ViewPad 7 and 10.1” dual-boot Win 7 and Android 1.6 ViewPad 10

WALNUT, Calif. – November 1, 2010 – ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of computing, consumer electronics and communications solutions, today announced its ViewPad line of Android-based devices, featuring the ViewPad 7 and ViewPad 10.

“Leveraging our 20-year display heritage, these new ViewPad solutions provide users with anytime anywhere connectivity,” said Jeff Volpe, vice president and general manager for ViewSonic Americas. “With access to the universe of Android apps, our new ViewPads are perfectly suited for enjoying digital entertainment and social media. Office productivity is also a snap with robust web browsing functionality.” 

ViewPad 7 – The Android 2.2 ViewPad 7 combines a powerful processor with 3.5G capable data technology in a lightweight, pocket-sized 7” form factor. With an 800x480 WVGA LCD screen, this device is one of the only 7” tablet solutions with Android Google Mobile Services (GMS). As a result, consumers can connect to a selection of more than 100,000 apps and games along with Gmail, YouTube and more for a superior and convenient entertainment solution that fits today’s mobile lifestyle.
 
With its wireless 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth® connectivity the ViewPad 7 supports instant messaging, VoIP, and all the web browsing and USB connectivity functions of a capacitive multi-touch device. The ViewPad 7 features 2 built-in cameras: a 3-megapixel, auto focus camera in the rear and a 0.3 megapixel camera in the front. In addition to the integrated 512MB of memory, the ViewPad 7 offers up to an additional 32GB of storage capacity via the micro SD card slot, along with battery life of up to 10 hours. The result is the ultimate device for connected fun and multitasking – in a compact size easier to carry than a netbook and with better media performance than a smartphone.

The ViewPad 7 will be available in late Q4 2010 for an ESP of $479. Third-party accessories and ViewCare™ extended warranties will also be available at launch.

ViewPad 10 – Innovative and productive, this 10.1” dual-boot Wi-Fi device gives users a choice between Windows® 7 Home Premium and Google Android 1.6 within the same device. With a high performance, high speed Intel® Atom™ 1.66GHz processor, integrated 1GB of memory, 16GB SSD hard drive and expandable micro SD slot, the ViewPad 10 is ideally designed to view Flash-based content and Office programs with Windows, and for an optimized mobile entertainment experience with Android. Additionally, the 1024x600 LED backlit panel includes a G-sensor and capacitive multi-touch for intuitive navigation across multiple applications. Teamed with a 1.3-megapixel webcam with built-in microphone, the ViewPad 10 is great for videoconferencing as well.

The ViewPad 10 with dual-boot OS will be available in Q1 2011 for an ESP of $629. Third-party accessories and ViewCare™ extended warranties will be available at launch.

For further information on ViewSonic products, please visit ViewSonic.com or follow ViewSonic on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.