Marvell Shows Off Android Tablet, Could Ship Later This Year

Tablets are back in style, no thanks to a little thing called the iPad, and there's nothing wrong with that. Sure, there's going to be all sorts of failures out there, but at least we can hope that the majority of these slate-style mini-computers will be worth our time. Take, for example, this 10-inch tablet that Marvell was showing off at the Future of Publishing Summit on Tuesday. It's running the Android mobile Operating System, which isn't that big of a surprise, and it's got a few features that make it seem worthwhile.

The device they showed off is just a prototype, and it wasn't working on a production-based shell, but the word around the block is that it's (expected to be) really fast. Based on the ARM Armada processor, the tablet would be able to playback 1080p video and not take a significant hit to the battery life. (Which is a good thing.) Sadly, the version of Android running on the test device at the summit was 1.6, and not 2.1 (or even 2.0.1). While it's still early obviously, this would probably change by the time the finished product hit store shelves.

Just like the iPad, this unnamed prototype is aimed at publishers. eReaders that can display the text on screen with color instead of E-Ink is becoming a hot topic, plus the tablet can play video. Yes, we're all for the revolution of eReaders (not that the Kindle, nook, or other E-Ink eReaders are bad, mind you), so bring on the competition. But, we should note that the semiconductor company, Marvell, isn't making the tablets themselves. No, they'll be manufactured by another company. And the finished product is meant to see shelves later this year, and hopefully it will see a price under the $499 minimum for Apple's tablet. As soon as we hear more, we'll be sure to pass it along. Then again, you could always look at the Notion Ink Adam. Sexy, right?

[via Technologizer]