Intel’s 10-inch and 7-inch Android tablet designs are now available to manufacturers, and the resulting products could rekindle a long rivalry in the education market with One Laptop Per Child, whose first Android tablet became available in July.
The chipmaker’s 10-inch Education Tablet runs Android 4.0, code-named Ice Cream Sandwich, while the 7-inch tablet runs Android 4.1, code-named Jelly Bean. Information about the tablet designs was posted on Intel’s website earlier this month, and was first reported by the IDG News Service.
The tablets will have low-power Atom processors. The Atom Z2460 in the 10-inch tablet is used in smartphones introduced last year by Lenovo, Motorola, and Xolo. The 7-inch tablet has the Atom Z2420 chip, code-named Lexington, which is used in sub-$100 smartphones and also in Asustek’s $149 Fonepad tablet.
Intel did not provide estimated prices for the tablets, and manufacturers will determine pricing and distribution, said Lisa Malloy, an Intel spokeswoman, in an email.
The tablet reference designs have some room for customization on the user-interface side, but less so on the hardware, Malloy said.
Intel does not make tablets, but provides reference designs to device makers. Intel last year released a tablet design called the Studybook, which had a 7-inch screen and an Atom chip code-named Oak Trail. But the company scrapped the old name and adopted the brand Education Tablet for the new designs.
Competition
Intel’s new designs come less than a month after One Laptop Per Child’s $149.99 XO Tablet became available in Walmart. Intel and OLPC in the past have competed on selling netbooks and laptop designs to governments and school systems in developing countries. Intel was earlier a part of non-profit OLPC, but backed out to promote its own products.
The Intel tablets give students mobility and educational value, said Gail Dundas, an Intel spokeswoman, in an email last week.
“It includes a tablet-specific Intel Education Software Suite which provides a collaborative, secure, enhanced and easy to use experience,” Dundas said.
IntelThe Education Tablets have textbooks and education software, a 0.3-megapixel front camera, a 2-megapixel rear camera, a stylus, 1GB of low-power DDR2 RAM, Wi-Fi, a micro-USB slot, and McAfee security software.
The tablets could make their way to consumers. Devices makers in the past have used Intel’s education hardware designs to make netbooks and convertible laptops.
The 10-inch Education Tablet provides around 6.5 hours of battery life, weighs about 1.5 pounds and has a screen with a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels. There is also a 16GB flash drive.
Intel estimates roughly 7.8 hours of battery life for the 7-inch Education Tablet, which weighs about 3/4 of a pound and has a screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. The device has 8GB of storage.