Ergo Electronics has launched three new affordable GTi Android tablets to help cash-strapped parents treat their loved ones to some touchscreen tablet fun this holiday season. The company has also partnered with Gardners Books to release a 6-inch GoTab tablet/e-reader as an inexpensive alternative to color e-readers like the Nook Color, the Elonex 500FB or even its own GoBooks.
At the time of writing, we've not been given too much information about the largest of the new tablets, the GoTab i97 or GTi97 for short. As you may have guessed, it's a 9.7-inch tablet with a high-resolution 4:3 aspect capacitive multi-touch IPS display capable of 1080p video playback. It features a dual core RK3066 processor running at 1.6 GHz supported by 1 GB of RAM, and will run on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) when released toward the end of October.
It will also feature 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity, HDMI out, a microSD card slot and a micro-USB port. It's been given a suggested retail price of £179 (US$290).
The GTi8 is the only new GTi model we've been able to get full specs for. It features an 8-inch 1024 x 768 pixel resolution (160 ppi) LED backlit display (4:3 aspect) which supports playback of Full HD movies. There's an HDMI 1.4 output port for display of content on a big-screen TV or monitor, a micro-USB port and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity.
This model is available now and runs on Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), with access to more than 400,000 apps from the Play Store. It's powered by a 1.2GHz ARM A10 Boxchip processor supported by 1GB DDR3 RAM, discrete HD graphics processing and 8GB of onboard storage with microSD card expansion and 5 GB of cloud storage from Box.com. A 3600 mAh Li-Pol battery gives the tablet its juice.
There's a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video conferencing or web chat, and another 2MP camera module to the rear. There's no Bluetooth, no GPS and no 3G connectivity, and it carries a suggested retail price of £129 ($209).
The smallest tablet in the range, and the model we have the least information about, is the GTi7. We do know that it features a 7-inch, 16:9 aspect touch display, includes wireless technology and runs on Android 4. But that's about all we know. Like the GTi97, this model will be released in October for £79 ($128).
Color e-reader for less than £60
Also new to the Ergo stable is the GoTab GBT6 with the Hive Reader app from Gardners Books. This pocket-sized, wallet-friendly Android 4 tablet/e-reader features a 6-inch 800 x 480 pixel resolution (155 ppi) LED backlit display with capacitive touch technology that supports up to five simultaneous touch points. It's capable of Full HD video playback, has a front-facing VGA webcam and sports a textured rear body surface for hand-held comfort.
Under the hood is a 1 GHz ARM processor, a GPU Mali 400 discrete graphics, 512 MB of DDR3 system memory and 4 GB of onboard storage with microSD card expansion. Connectivity is represented by a micro-USB port and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a 2000 mAh Li-Pol battery promises up to four hours of online browsing or 80 hours on standby.
The GoTab GBT6 is available now for a suggested retail price of just £59 ($95).
Like the GoNote netbook we covered last month, these new tablets will not be made available outside the UK and Ireland (for the moment).
Source : Ergo Electronics
DANG IT
Not intentionally defending Apple, but come on, if you are going to copy a tablet, at least make some effort to not copy and paste. This looks like a poorly done Xerox copy.