Vega : Android Leaps from Phone to Tablet

Nadia Naila

Thursday, 21 January 2010

One of the promises of Google’s Android operating system has always been that it need not stay confined to powering cell phones. That’s already starting to come to fruition, with an Android netbook on the way from Acer and both the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Spring Design Alex eReaders also launching soon with Android under the hood (thought apparently it’s no accident the latter two devices are so similar).

Now there’s another AndroidAndroid device on deck that’s not a phone, dubbed Vega. Made by Seattle-based company Innovative Converged Devices, the Vega is a tablet-like device with a detachable stand to prop it up, running Android 2.0 (the same version used in the Motorola Droid).

The device, slated to launch in the first half of 2010, will actually come in three sizes: 7, 11 and 15-inches. It will support connectivity via Wi-Fi as well as 3G, and be available at reportedly “low cost” (read: subsidized) from major carriers throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Designed to be put to flexible use throughout the home, the Vega will feature high-definition entertainment and a touchscreen along with a webcam, BluetoothBluetooth support, accelerometer, 512MB RAM and storage via microSD. The brain of the machine will be NVIDIA’s Tegra processor, a high-powered combination CPU and graphics chip that was designed for low power consumption and long battery life.

There’s no word on what that “low cost” price may be, and it may end up varying by carrier as well (no word on whether you’ll be able to buy it outright without 3G yet, either). Nonetheless, the Vega is certainly an interesting entrant into the once again nascent tablet device playing field, with the Apple Tablet and the Microsoft Courier being the two hot tablets that no one will admit are real yet.

Check out a few more images of the Vega below. Do you see a place for these tablet devices in the home? What would the price need to be for you to pick one up? Would you rather it run Android, Mac OS X, WindowsWindows, or something else?