IDG News Service — Inexpensive tablets with screen sizes up to 10 inches and Google's new Android 4.0 OS will soon become available at prices ranging from US$100 to $250. The prices are a breakthrough for users looking to get Android 4.0, code-named Ice Cream Sandwich, on tablets, which have so far been equipped with Android 2.x or Android 3.x. Some of the sub-$250 tablets run on smartphone processors and may lack the processing power of Apple's iPad 2 or Asus' Eee Pad Transformer Prime. But with cameras, high-definition video capabilities and HDMI ports, these devices could provide good value to budget buyers.

ViewSonic's $169 ViewPad E70

ViewSonic earlier this month said it would ship the ViewPad E70 with Android 4.0 starting at $169.99 later this quarter. The slim tablet will have a 7-inch screen, a front-facing camera and a microSD slot for expandable storage of up to 32GB. The company has not provided many details about the tablet, but said access to thousands of applications will be provided. Digging into some details on the website, the tablet will have a capacitive touchscreen that can display images at an 800-by-480-pixel resolution. The tablet will also have a micro-HDMI port to connect to high-definition TVs.

E Fun's $230 10-inch Nextbook

Of the sub-$250 tablets, the upcoming Nextbook Elite 10 from E Fun perhaps packs the most performance by incorporating a dual-core ARM processor. The West Covina, California, company said the tablet will become available in the spring this year at a street price of around $229. The tablet will have a 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen that can display images at a 1024-by-768-pixel resolution, and run on Broadcom's dual-core 1.1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, which is in most dual-core tablets today. The tablet will also have 8GB of storage, a 2.0-megapixel front camera, a 5.0-megapixel back camera and an HDMI port.

Velocity Micro Cruz tablets

Velocity Micro, known best for its high-powered gaming PCs, will ship the $150 Cruz Tablet T507 with a 7-inch screen, and the Cruz Tablet T510 with a 10-inch screen at an estimated price under $250. The tablets will have capacitive touchscreens and run on Cortex-A8 ARM processors with clock speeds of 1.2GHz. The tablets will have a front-facing camera and support Adobe Flash 11. The 3D acceleration will enable high-definition graphics, and HDMI ports will allow TVs to be connected to the tablet.

Access to the Android Market is yet to be determined as the company has not yet finalized licensing with Google, but Amazon Appstore will come preinstalled, a company spokesman said. The tablets will ship in late February to early March.

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