Word on the street has been that Asus is planning to introduce a new low cost tablet with a 7 inch display and Android Jelly Bean software. Expected to hit South Africa in early 2013 for about $226, the Asus ME172V is now up for pre-order in Russia for about the same price.
The tablet is expected to have an 800 MHz VIA WM8950 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and Android 4.1.
Update: The tablet actually has a 1 GHz processor. You can read our full review for more details.
It’s equipped with a 4270mAh battery and features 802.11b/g/n WiFi.
The Russian product listing also includes the first pictures of the tablet, which looks a bit like an Asus Nexus 7, with the same textured plastic back panel.
There’s no guarantee this tablet is real or that the specs are set in stone — I’ve seen plenty of retailers post product pages for rumored products, only to change their listings once a real device is launched (or not).
It also seems unlikely that Asus would launch a new tablet with a lower resolution display and slower processor than the Nexus 7 and then charge more money for it. If and when the Asus ME172V goes on sale in countries where the Nexus 7 is already available, I suspect Asus would charge less than $200 for the new tablet.
via Notebook Italia
24 April 2013, This model just popped up in Jakarta Indonesia for Rp.1.475 million ($153 USD). The newspaper advertisement says Asus model ME172V-1A075A, Android 4.1, 1GB DDR3, and Via WM8950 at 1GHz, not 800MHz as stated in this article. I’m not sure which is correct. I think this thing is called the MeMo Pad in other markets? The $149 Asus 7″ MeMO Pad ME172V-A1-GR Tablet has a VIA WM8950 at 1.00GHz, 1GB DDR3, 16GB Flash, and Mali-400 graphics. Reviews say the bad thing about this device is the relatively low resolution 1024×600 twisted nematic (TN) screen which renders rather poorly and has narrow viewing angles. In comparison the Nexus 7 uses a far superior 1280×800 IPS display. (But the lack of an SD slot on the Nexus 7 is a deal-killer for me.)
Yep, all of your information is correct. Later today I’ll be posting a detailed review of this tablet.
Might as well just buy a Nook Color
the website says android 4.1
You’re right. That’s what I get for typing too quickly.