Huawei in Aussie telco talks for Android tablet

Huawei's 7-inch MediaPad runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb

Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei has announced its first Android-powered tablet, the MediaPad, at a conference in Singapore, but won’t say when it’s coming to Australia or which telcos will offer the device.

Huawei claims the MediaPad is the world’s first seven-inch Android tablet to run version 3.2 of ‘Honeycomb’ pre-installed.

A spokesperson for Huawei Technologies in Australia said the company is “currently in talks with all Australian operators”; however, local release details and pricing are yet to be confirmed.

Huawei already sells a number of Android smartphone handsets through retailers here, so it’s possible the MediaPad will be offered outright, without being tied to a mobile data contract.

The MediaPad features a Qualcomm dual-core 1.2GHz processor, HDMI port and is10.5mm thick and weighs 390g. It supports 1080P full HD video playback, has a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and five megapixel rear-facing camera with HD video recording.

For connectivity the MediaPad has HSPA+ (14.4Mbps) and 802.11n Wi-Fi. The tablet comes bundled with Huawei’s Hi-Space Cloud solution and supports the Google Android Market. Flash is also supported.

Why seven-inch and not 10 like other Honeycomb tablets? Huawei Device chief marketing officer Victor Xu said: “The seven-inch tablet remains the preferred size for portability and Android Honeycomb 3.2 is dedicated to enhance the full potential of seven-inch tablets.”

Huawei also makes the S7 Slim Android 2.2 tablet.

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