Asus appears set to release yet another budget-minded tablet following the success of the Google Nexus 7. This time around, however, the slate will be powered by an Intel processor instead of the Tegra 3 chip found in the Nexus 7.
The tablet’s model number, ME371MH, indicates it will ship with an Intel Atom Z2420 single-core processor clocked anywhere between 1GHz and 2GHz alongside PowerVR SGX540 graphics. Benchmarks of this particular chip show it falls well behind multi-core processor capabilities across the board but so long as pricing reflects that, consumers should have little to be concerned with.
We are hearing the tablet will ship with a 7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels, 1GB of RAM and either 8GB, 16GB or 32GB of internal flash storage. The unit will also have a microSD card slot and a 3-megapixel camera on the rear.
A front-facing 1.2-megapixel camera will facilitate video calls. The slate will come pre-installed with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with a 4,270mAh battery on tap. There’s also the usual array of sensors packed into the 340 gram frame that measures 196.6 x 120.1 x 10.4mm.
No word yet on a release date or pricing and of course, we aren’t hearing anything official from Asus just yet. With any luck, we could hear something about it during Mobile World Congress later this month. One would suspect the price would come in below the Nexus 7 considering the slower single-core processor.
