The ELocity A7 Tablet is Set to Go Up Against the IPad
Stream TV is trying to be the first company to introduce an Android-based tablet computer. Will its eLocity A7 have a chance against the iPad and other upcoming tablets?
Tue, August 31, 2010
Computerworld — Starting Wednesday, Sept. 1, if all goes according to plan, you will be able to order one of the first in what will surely be an avalanche of Android -based tablet computers. That's the day the eLocity A7 , running Android 2.2 and based on the Nvidia (NVDA) Tegra 2 chip, will be available for pre-orders at Amazon.com (AMZN).
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The A7 comes from a little-known Philadelphia-based start-up called Stream TV. The $399 tablet has a seven-inch screen and will come with a wireless keyboard and other accessories. It is currently scheduled to begin shipping on Nov. 1.
eLocity A7
I got my mitts on a preproduction A7 very briefly late last week -- just long enough to get a few quick impressions.
It's pretty impressive, in a rough-hewn sort of way -- not unusual for presale units. The device is 8.2 by 4.8 by 0.5 inches in size and weighs a touch over 1 lb. It has a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It supports 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1. Its ports include a USB 2.0 jack, a Micro SD slot, a docking port, and -- most interestingly -- an HDMI port. While 3G will not be included with the first units, the company said it is planning 3G capability for a later model.
The HDMI connection, along with the graphically strong Nvidia chip, makes the A7 interesting. The tablet, which has a three-axis accelerometer, can be used to play games with 1080p video. The company has demonstrated a racing game that -- allowing for preproduction hiccups -- impressed. It should be possible for the tablet to show HD video in full resolution -- or you could connect it to an HDTV and use that as a monitor.
Given that the A7 uses exclusively off-the-shelf hardware and software, I asked Stream TV's CEO, Mathu Rajan, whether the commoditization of tablets is already underway even though the market has yet to be established -- and how Stream TV planned to differentiate its offerings in the face of such commoditization. Rajan said that, while the A7 would ship with the standard Android 2.2 interface, his company was working on a software layer that would present a proprietary interface to the user, essentially hiding the Android underpinnings.
Incidentally, apps for the A7 will not be available at the Android Market, but at an app store known as GetJar .
