At CES, Viewsonic Joins Android Tablet Fight

Ultrabooks Of CES: Visual Tour

Viewsonic jumped into the tablet business with not one, but three different products--two for Android, and one for Windows; the Windows version can dual boot Windows or Android. None of the products stands out particularly among the glut of Android tablets, except that they're extremely cost effective.

The E70 is 7-inch Android tablet that will ship in March, running Android Ice Cream Sandwich, the newest mobile OS from Google. It's powered by a 1-GHz single core processor. The screen resolution is only 800 x 480, but it costs just $169!

The ViewPad 10E is a 10-inch Android tablet, and like its smaller cousin, it's got just enough juice to make it a viable Android tablet. At $279, it is not a terrible deal. Its resolution is 1024 x 768, and it uses IPS technology for a wider viewing angle. But this tablet, which ships at the end of January, isn't running Android Ice Cream Sandwich yet.

[ Interested in Windows? Read Microsoft Unveils LTE Windows Phones At CES. ]

The ViewPad 10E, like the E70, runs on a single-core processor. Both devices have mini-HDMI, micro and mini-USB and microSD ports, and 1.3-MP front-facing and 3-MP rear-facing cameras. It will cost $279.

Finally, the ViewPad 10pi is a 10-inch Windows tablet, which includes a Viewsonic user experience on top of the normal Windows user interface (you can jump to a regular Windows UI at any time). The product makes use of Swype for text input. This is a dual-boot machine: you can run either Windows or Android on it.

The hardware includes an IPS display at 1280 x 800 resolution, it uses the Intel Oak Trail processor, running at 1.6 GHz, and includes 2 GB of memory and 64 GB of SD storage. It includes the same dual cameras as its Android brethren. The cost: A whopping $849--the price for the "special" Oak Trail processor and extra storage. It will be available at the end of January.

The Enterprise Connect conference program covers the full range of platforms, services, and applications that comprise modern communications and collaboration systems. It happens March 25-29 in Orlando, Fla. Find out more.