ViewSonic demonstrated an Android-powered 8.9-inch, 1024 × 800 tablet device at a trade show in Beijing, China, yesterday, reports Mobile.163. The VTablet 101 incorporates an ARM Cortex-A9 based Nvidia Tegra system-on-chip (SoC), plus WiFi, Bluetooth, and 4GB of flash storage, says the story.

The Tegra "T20" SoC mentioned by Mobile.163 appears to be the Tegra 250 which has also been referred to in the press as the Tegra 2. Incorporating the dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, the 3D graphics enhanced SoC is touted as being "specifically designed for tablets." Equipped with eight independent processors, the Tegra 250 offers up to four times the performance of previous Tegras, and can easily handle 1080p video playback, claims Nvidia.

ViewSonic VTablet 101
(Source: Mobile.163)

The VTablet 101 is further equipped with 4GB of flash memory and an 8.9-inch LVDS touchscreen with 1024 × 800 resolution, says Mobile.163. The device also provides a front-facing camera, 802.11n WiFi, and Bluetooth, says the story. 3G connectivity is said to be possible via an external modem hooked up with the VTablet's mini-USB port or PCI-Express slot.

VTablet 101, showing specs
(Source: Mobile.168)

Primarily known for its monitors, ViewSonic also sells touchscreen panel PCs such as the Intel Core 2 Duo based, 17-inch MPC1700 and MPC1701 panels announced last month, which are aimed at medical applications.

The VTablet 101 is labeled as a "MID" on the spec list screen shown above in a Mobile.163 shot, although typically MIDs range from 4.5 inches to seven inches while tablets are larger. Lately, however, most vendors seem inclined to use the terms tablet or slate instead of MID, no matter what the size. 

The VTablet 101 was apparently not quite ready for NVidia's Tegra 250 roll-out at CES earlier this month. Nvidia reportedly showed five prototypes of Tegra 250-based tablets, two of which are said to run Android: Notion Ink's Adam and the Ultra (pictured at right) from Innovative Converged Devices (ICD). Foxconn, meanwhile, showed off a Linux-based Tegra 250-based tablet prototype.

Availability

According to Mobile.163, the VTablet 101 will go on sale at an unspecified time for 3000 yuan, or about $440 U.S. More information may be found at this translated version of the story, here.

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