Honeycomb trying to challenge iPad

BRUNEI - APPLE'S iPad has met its match with the arrival of the first Android 'Honeycomb' tablet in Brunei.

Concepts Computers, the main distributor of Acer computers in Brunei, yesterday launched the Acer Iconia Tab A500, its second tablet following the release of the Windows 7-powered W500 last month.

At $728, the Iconia Tab A500 runs on Android 3.0, more popularly called Honeycomb. Unlike its smartphone brethren, Honeycomb is optimised for tablet devices with performance that rivals the iPad.

"Now we have two flavours, a Windows 7 version, which we successfully launched a month ago, and an Android version. Furthermore, this is Honeycomb, the only version of Android that is optimised for tablets. This is the one Android fans have been anticipating, and we are the first to have it here in Brunei," said Zul Abdul Rahman, marketing executive at Concepts.

"Unlike our competition, the Android market is more 'open', so Android users may fully customise their devices. This has been the Android way even on mobile phones, and what Android fans have known to love," he said.

The tablet is equipped with a 1Ghz nVidia Tegra2 Dual Core processor, 32GB built-in capacity, dual cameras and a battery life of up to eight hours. It sports an array of connectivity including wi-fi and bluetooth connection, USB and mini-USB ports, a micro-SD slot, and an HDMI port.

The 10.1-inch tablet features a hybrid design that allows the user to use it as a multi-touch tablet or, when docked into the keyboard, a laptop computer an advantage over regular tablet devices already in the market. The keyboard dock is sold separately.

"With the release of a true tablet experience of Android Honeycomb ... we hope to take that number one spot as the leading tablet device in Brunei," Zul said.

-The Brunei Times/Asia News Network