Will cheap Ice Cream Sandwich tablets sell?

Pictured above is the NOVO7, which is actually the world’s first Ice Cream Sandwich tablet. It’s a 7-inch device that features a 1GHz processor with 1080p HD video output — not top of the line, but certainly not assembled from the scrap heap. It’s not much with the rear camera, just 2 megapixels, and the front-facing one is just VGA. While there are some downsides, the upside is considerable. That is, the device is selling for just $100. That’s a pretty magic price point. Can it work for this device? The problem with most cheap Android tablets — the $200 ones you see in Best Buy and Walmart, and on Amazon.com — is that they run Android 2.2 or 2.3. If they ran Honeycomb it might be a different proposition. But with an older OS there’s something of an issue. Advanced users could root the device and install a custom version of Honeycomb. This device, however, comes with Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the box. The hardware might be generic, but the software will help compensate for that. The downshot is that the device only ships from China, and it costs $60 to get stateside. That is, you’re probably better off waiting on it. If they ever ship $100 units to the US, though, it might be a bargain. If not, at least you won’t have spent a lot of money finding out. Via Phandroid.

About the Author

Joe Pawlikowski is the Senior Editor at MobileMoo.com and has been covering the mobile industry full time since 2007. When he's not writing about the tech scene, he can be found discussing his personal love - baseball (and more specifically the New York Yankees) as well as writing on his personal blog.