Chinese device maker Xiaomi has unveiled its first tablet, and while the Mi Pad looks like an iPad mini it packs Google Android 4.4 KitKat with Xiaomi’s custom MIUI user interface. It’s also expected to be one of the first tablets to ship with an NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor which should give it some heavy duty gaming chops.
Xiaomi has a reputation for offering high-quality hardware at low prices, and it looks like the Mi Pad keeps up the tradition: Prices will start at CN¥1,499, or about $240 US.
Unfortunately there’s no word on whether you’ll actually be able to buy a Mi Pad in the US. While the company has been expanding its international presence, Xiaomi doesn’t currently sell any of its phones or other devices in the States.
The Mi Pad features a 7.9 inch, 2048 x 1536 pixel display and packs NVIDIA’s 2.2 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 processor with 192-core graphics. It features 2GB of RAM and comes with either 16GB or 64GB of storage. There’s also a microSD card slot for up to 128GB of additional storage space. The tablet has an 8MP rear camera and 5MP front-facing camera, stereo speakers, and features 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 6700mAh battery.
Xiaomi plans to launch an “open beta” program in China in June. It’s not clear when the tablet will be available to the general public.
If the specs look familiar, by the way, that’s because they are: A device with similar hardware showed up in online benchmarks recently, where the tablet was described as an NVIDIA Mocha. It’s not clear that the Xiaomi Mi Pad is the Mocha, but it looks like it could be based on some sort of reference design from NVIDIA: Both tablets have Tegra K1 chips, 7.9 inch displays with 326 pixels per inch, and 2GB of RAM.
So even if the Mi Pad doesn’t make it to US shores, there’s reason to think that other tablets like the Mi Pad might be available this summer.
Source: Liliputing
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