WePad Android Tablet Launching Soon

by Antonio Wells Apr 12, 2010 12:34 PM – 8 Comments

In CarryPad’s live blog coverage of the WePad conference today we learned of new specs, pricing and initial launch date. The WePad is an Android tablet with 11.6 inch touch screen display, 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor, 16GB of flash storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1, and 1.3 megapixel camera starting at €449 ($611 USD) in July 2010. Shortly a 3G-32GB flash storage model will be available for €569 ($774 USD).

We’ve already seen Notion Ink’s Adam Android tablet sparking interest and rivalry with Apple’s recently released iPad. We’ll watch how this tablet stacks up… see the chart below.

Comparison chart of the WePad versus the iPad:

Technology	WePad	Apple iPad
Display	11.6″ mit 1366×768 pixels	9.7″ mit 1024×768
Processor	1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 Pineview-M	1.0GHz Apple A4
Memory	16GB NAND Flash (optional 32GB intern/32GB SD card)	16 / 32 / 64GB
Webcam	Yes (1.3 megapixels)	No
Peripherals	2 USB integrated, Card reader, Audio outout, SIM Card Slot, Multi-Pin Connector	Adapter for Camera and Card Reader
Flash/Adobe AIR	Yes/Yes	No/No
Applications	WePad Apps and Android Apps	iTunes App Store
Multitasking	Yes	Limited (only Apple Apps)
Battery Life	Lithium-Ion Polymer (running time ca. 6 hours)	ca. 10 hours
Supported eBook Formats	All open formats, additionally premium formats (WeBook). Start at Q4/10	Proprietary Apple format for iBooks Store, Launch ???
Connections	Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, optional 3G	Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wi-Fi, optional 3G
GPS	Yes (optional)	Yes (Wi-Fi + 3G)
Case	Magnesium-Aluminium	Aluminium
Dimensions	288 x 190 x 13 mm	242.8 x 189.7 x 13.4 mm
Weight	800 g (850 g with 3G)	680 g
Further Details	Ambient Light Sensor, Motion Sensor, Stereo, Internal	Ambient Light Sensor, Motion Sensor, Stereo, Internal
Price	€449-€569 ($611-$774 USD)	$499-$829
Availability	July 2010	April/May 2010

Video of WePad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBq66fEVYzo

Photos of the WePad:

: WePad Front

: WePad Profiles

: WePad Angle

: WePad Side Angle

: Wepad Back

[via Slash Gear, via Carrypad and Twitter]

Categorised in: Android Tablets, News

8 Comments

By Planet on April 12, 2010 at 1:02 pm:

The price comparison isn’t fair for two reasons: first, in Europe we always state the prices with tax included, unlike the US, where it is added later on. Second, electronics are always more expensive here.

For example, the european price for the iPad hasn’t been disclosed yet, but hardly anyone expects anything below the trusty old $=€ formula, so 499 Euro (equals 678 US Dollars) on this side of the large pond.

Now look at the WePad offering again, considering it is cheaper than the iPad – or, at best (for Apple fans) the same price.

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By Jon Bell on April 12, 2010 at 2:59 pm:

Ok, so I see iPad advertised 10 hours of battery, and reviewers are claiming more. Wepad has 6, and I’m not sure if I can trust it or not.

I see the iPad has the AppStore, and the quality of apps on there is pretty far above the Android apps I’ve seen.

I see that iPad exists in the market today, and a month or two later will have multitasking that tries really hard not to drain battery life.

I’m glad the price is in the right ballpark, I will pay more for a product that gives me a superior experience.

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By Planet on April 12, 2010 at 4:14 pm:

You forgot to mention that the iPad has a higher quality IPS display (better viewing angles) while the WePad probably has a standard TN type.

I was just stating that so the comparison isn’t biased by the false price tag. Both systems have pros and cons, that much should be agreeable. But the WePad pretty much did a non-show today, I just hope for the competition on the market that it doesn’t turn out to be vaporware.

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- By tical9787 on April 26, 2010 at 7:32 am:
  
  does the wepad being 1080p compare to the ipad?
  
  Reply
By schwiz on April 12, 2010 at 8:51 pm:

More than I was expecting or willing to pay, hopefully that e-ink tablet will be less.

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By Qelix on April 13, 2010 at 3:27 am:

/me to the rescue of the WePad. (Sort of)
Like Planet wrote before: If they really release it for that price here in germany (Yes, I’m german. -_-), it will be more inexpensive, than the ipad. I don’t know how much they let you temper with the device and it’s os-partion, but I heard somewhere (Yaya, he heard it somewhere. Quite convincing. I think it was on the RTL II News.), that there will be a systemconsole implemented for people, who know what they are doing or just want to experiment a bit. XP It’s androidframeworknature lets me hope for features like installing other linux distributions or maybe even a Windows-port by Microsoft one day. It’s much more near to being a PC than the ipad. To be fair, I do not own an ipod, iphone or an ipad, so I might not be qualified to criticize it, but what I have seen of the features of the iphone in local stores and what I have read about the features of the ipad, don’t impress me much. They (phone and pad) seam to be just hyped, overpriced gadgets, while the WePad looks much more like something to really work with. (And the thought “ipad=bigger iphone” didn’t just crossed my mind, I read it several times on the internet, too) Thou there (ipod’s,ipad’s,iphone’s) gui is just unreached. Smooth, good looking, wonderful.

From what I read about about the WePad, it’s true. It doesn’t want to be a ipad-killer. It passes it and aims right for the HP slate. ^^ But there are still some points, that are irritating me. They didn’t send any devices to magazines or internetsites to let them be reviewed. Something is fishy about those 6 hours battery lifetime. And even if those 6 hours are given, it’s still not enough to endure a whole working day out of the company in the wilderness. (But I’m not asking for wonders here. 6 hours sounds realistic for nettops, too) Apple’s 10 hours is more convincing. Let’s see how well HP is doing.

And @planet and vaporware: They had a working machine, that looked (at least in the videos) less like a prototype, but more like one of the first mass-product-versions.

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By Qelix on April 13, 2010 at 6:26 am:

Okay, gotta take back that last part about mass-product-version. Just watched the youtube video on this page here and have to say, it looks like portable HD-videoplayer with fancy usb-ports and nothing more. I’m quite certain from the looks of it, that on its screen was just a HD 768p movie and we haven’t seen the real thing.

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By Johannes on April 13, 2010 at 10:41 am:

Just a quick note:

Supported eBook Formats:
“Proprietary Apple format for iBooks Store, Launch ???”

It’s just plain wrong.

The iPad, additionally to the DRM protected iBook-Store books, supports the ePub-Format, which is an Open-Standard for eBooks, you are able to convert your PDFs into ePub and read it right away.

Best regards,
Johannes

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