MediaPad

MediaPad Android tablet launched

In Singapore today, Chinese electronics manufacturer, Huawei hosted the official global launch of its latest tablet, the Huawei media pad. Present at the event were Qualcomm, Gameloft, and Real as well – partners that worked together with Huawei to create the tablet. The event was brief and straight to the point, showing off to the world what Huawei has in store for us.

The MediaPad’s specs are what you would expect from what Huawei calls the world’s smartest, slimmest, lightest, and affordable tablet in its class. It will be the world’s first tablet to run on Qualcomm’s 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor, and Android 3.2 Honeycomb. Yes, that’s 3.2 and not 3.1. According to Victor Xu, Huawei’s Chief Marketing Officer – it is the first version of the Android operating system that’s been optimized to run on 7″ tablets. Other than that, he didn’t elaborate on what else Android 3.2 brings to the table. Perhaps we’ll find out more in due time.

The tablet features a 7″ display that has a pixel density of 217 PPI, which is pretty impressive, especially when compared to other tablets such as the iPad 2 (132 PPI), Galaxy Tab 10.1 (149) and Motorola Xoom (160). But keep in mind that the tablet’s display is smaller: the other tablets have ~10″ screens. It supports 1080p full HD video, HDMI output, and Flash 10.3. The tablet is also touted to play audio and video files of any format. Huawei worked together with RealNetworks (the folks behind RealVideo and RealPlayer) to ensure the tablet’s ability to play any format. Announced formats include: WMV, Flash, Mp3, and H.264.

It has a sleek two-tone uni-body aluminum alloy body with a design that is said to resemble an hour clock. It weighs 0.86 pounds (390g), and is 10.5mm thick – with its 7″ size, its small form factor is the ideal size to travel around with. The MediaPad also features HSPA+ 14.4Mbps, WiFi and Bluetooth2.1+EDR connectivity. It comes with a GPS radio, and A-GPS support. The tablet packs a 5-megapixel rear camera with HD video recording (not mentioned if its 1080p or 720p), and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera.

The tablet will support the Android Market, Huawei’s own app store, and other 3rd party app stores. No prices were announced but Victor Xu promises that it will be available globally in Q3 this year (America, Asia and select European markets). The tablet will be sold through carriers and retail outlets. So far the tablet sounds like a great device for watching movies, listening to music and playing games on the go. We’ll just have to see is Huawei delivers what it promises when the MediaPad is released later this year.