The budget tablets are steadily moving towards being budget tablets with 2G GSM calling functionality and joining the party is the Spice Slatepad. This the the first calling tablet from the company and it has been launched by the company through its website. The budget tablet has a 7 inch screen which has a display resolution of 1024×600 pixels. The Slatepad has been launched at a price of Rs.9,999 which is slightly more compared with the tablets with similar specs from other Indian manufacturers.
The tablet has a 1GHz single core processor powering it and the processor is supplemented with a 512 MB RAM. It runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean which ensures that you can run almost every application that available on the Play Store unless they are restricted by hardware compatibility. The tablet will feature voice calling and 3G data services will be available on the device as well. It will feature Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS connectivity in addition to 3G.
Samsung has just announced the latest iteration of its budget tablet series, the Galaxy Tab series. Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 will take over from the Galaxy Tab 2 and will come with a Galaxy S4-ish design. It looks like a tad smaller version of the Galaxy Note 8.0. It will come in both 3G and Wi-Fi guises and the 3G variant will feature the calling functionality and Samsung has even added up a proximity sensor to the device to take care of the display when you are calling.
The Galaxy Tab 3 gets lighter in weight and more compact in size as compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab 2. The tablet comes with a 7 inch capacitive display unit which has a resolution of 1024×600 pixels. This is pretty much what was offered on the Tab 2 and there’s nothing new bout the display. Powering the tablet will be a 1.2 GHz dual core processor (most probably a Broadcomm unit ) which will be coupled with a 1GB RAM for multitasking.
It will come with two memory options of 8GB and 16GB. The storage of the device can be expanded via a microSD card slot by upto 64GB. It gets Bluetooth in addition to Wi-Fi and 3G for added connectivity. Giving the tablet juice will be a 4,000 mAH battery which shall last around 7-8 hours according to us. It launches with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean which seems a bit underwhelming seeing the fact that Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update is already here.
It gets a 3.0 megapixel rear camera for occasional clicks as well and to supplement it will be a 1.3 megapixel front camera. The Wi-Fi only model will start its global roll out in May with the 3G and Wi-Fi variant joining the ranks in June. The Galaxy Tab 2 has just had its price dropped significantly and will get another revision for sure when the next generation comes in. Seeing the fact that it’s not much of an upgrade, the Tab 2 makes somewhat a lot more sense.
Google has slowly started bringing the Nexus devices to India and the Nexus 7 in 16GB guise has already been doing good numbers for the company since it was launched. Later on, it was joined by the 32GB version and the 32GB + Wi-Fi version but the same was not available on Google Play store. Now the company has just made the 32GB Wi-Fi only version available via its play store for Rs.18,999 and the same has ran out of stock pretty well.
But you need not worry as we expect the device to be made available soon enough so you can grab it then. The device is similar to the 16GB Wi-Fi only version in terms of internals except the internal memory seeing a boost. The tablet still is one of the best tablets under Rs.20,000 and you can choose one as per your memory requirements as it does not get expandable memory as an option, and neither does the iPad mini which is its main competitor.
Asus India and Intel today launched the Asus Fonepad, a 7 inch Android tablet with 3G and Phone calling functionality in India at a price of Rs. 15,999. The price of the Fonepab is very competitive considering that it offers good specs, 3G and calling functionality in a good form factor.
On the display side, it has a 7 inch HD IPS display with 1280×800 pixels display resolution. The display is 10 point multi-touch touchscreen. It is powered by n Intel Atom 1.2 GHz (Z2420) processor and 1 GB of RAM. It has 8 GB internal memory which can be further increased by adding an additional microSD card. The thickness of the tab is just 10.4 mm and weighs around 340g. It has 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, Dual camera with 1.2 MP front camera and a 3 MP camera at rear. With its large 4270 Lithium polymer battery, it can deliver a battery life of up to 9 hours.
Calling tablets are slowly yet steadily gaining a lot of popularity in the Indian market and no company wants to stay away from the huge potential that the budget calling tablet segment has. Salora, a company which has just entered the Indian smartphone and tablet arena has just launched their first calling tablet which has been named Salora Fontab and it has the best in class specs as well. The price is great too and it will retail at just Rs.6,899.
Panasonic has launched 4 new products in the Toughpad series which are ruggedized mobile computing devices. Out of these four, first one FZ-G1 is a Windows 8 based touchscreen tablet PC, JT-B1 which is an android based tablet and two handheld computing devices JT-H300HT and JT-H320HT. Lets look at all of these one by one and have a brief video review of the same.
Toughpad FG-G1 Price, Features And Video Review
Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 comes with Windows 8 with a 10.1 inch touchscreen which is HD and is readable in daylight. It has 10 point multi-touch input and is drop and water resistant. It comes with a Digitizer pen and thinnest ruggedized tablet in this segment. It is powered by an Intel i5 processor, has 4GB RAM, has dual camera and 4100 mAh battery which lasts for up to 8 hours.
It comes with USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output, GPS, Ethernet and microSD card slot as well. It supports WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G mobile data connections. It has been priced at Rs. 1.75 Lakhs.
Video review:
Toughpad JT-B1 Price, Features And Video Review
Panasonic Toughpad JT-B1 is a 7 inch android tablet with display resolution of 1024×600. It is powered by 1.GHz dual core processor by TI and has 1GB RAM. It features a multi-touch touchscreen, a 13 MP camera at rear and 1.3 MP camera at front. It has in-built GPS, WiFi, 3G support with a large battery of 5720 mAh which can last for up to 8 hours. It is only 500 grams in weight and screen is readable in daylight and can bear a drop of 5 feet. It has been priced at Rs. 69,000.
Video Review:
Toughpad JT-H300HT Price, Features And Video Review
Panasonic JT-H300HT is a hand held computing device which is ruggedized and can bear drops and has large battery life of 25 hours. It is well suited for business applications which require tracking, field use and other field requirements. It runs using Windows CE version and supports Bluetooth, 3G and WiFi for connectivity. Due to its sleep form factor, it can be operated with one hand. It has been priced at Rs. 60,000.
Video review:
Toughpad JT-H320HT Price, Features And Video Review
Panasonic JT-H320HT is a sleeker hand held computing device which is ruggedized and can bear 2 meters drops and has large battery life of 20 hours. It runs using Windows CE version and supports Bluetooth, 3G and WiFi for connectivity. It has been priced at Rs. 40,000 Lakhs.
Karbonn is becoming a key player in the Indian smartphone and tablet arena when it comes to offering class leading products at rock bottom prices. Karbonn has just launched another budget tablet in the Indian market which it has named as Karbonn Ta-Fone A34 for Rs.7,290 and it is available via online retailer Infibeam.com and the retailer is offering an inaugral discount of another Rs.440 if you use the code”KAR440″.
Karbonn Ta-Fone A34 comes with a 7 inch capacitive display which has a resolution of 800×480 pixels. The main selling point of the tablet will be the Dual SIM option it brings along with it. It can work with two GSM sim cards which makes it quite a handy tablet. It runs on a slightly older version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 but we can’t ask them for much at this price point. It offers voice calling too which makes those two sim cards all the more functional.
