2010 is shaping up as the year of the tablet computer at this year’s Computex Conference in Taipei, Taiwan. In just the first day of the conference, the industry has gotten initial glimpses of the very real competition mounting against Apple’s popular iPad.
Preceding the conference, Asustek on Monday took the wraps off the Eee Pad, a possible iPad competitor. The 12-inch Eee Pad runs on Windows 7 and is powered by a CULV Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Specs for the device were limited, but a press release said the device will feature a keyboard/docking station and 10 hours of battery life. Asus also unveiled the more portable 10-inch Eee Pad, which runs Windows Embedded compact 7.
According to a press release, the Eee Pad will sell in the range of $399 and $499.
Meanwhile, MSI today introduced a tablet dubbed the MSI Wind Pad tablet PC. The tablet sports a 10-inch screen and will offered in two versions; one running Android OS and another running Windows 7. Both Wind Pads are expected to be available by the end of this year.
The Wind Pad 100, which runs on Windows 7, has a 1.66GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, 2GB RAM, and 32GB Solid State Drive. The Wind Pad 100 has a customized UI and offers an HDMI out for connecting it to larger HD displays along with two USB 2.0 ports and built-in webcam.
The Wind Pad 110 has a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 250 SoC and runs on Google’s Android OS. MSI will price the Wind Pad Tablet 100 at $499. Pricing for Wind Pad Tablet 110 was not available.
Intel is also getting in on the tablet game. According to EndGadget, the chipmaker demonstrated MeeGo running on a 10-inch Quanta Redvale tablet with a 1.5GHz Moorestown chip during a keynote a Computex.
Apple today announced that it had sold 2 million iPads since it unveiled the device. The iPad currently comes in a Wi-Fi-only version and a 3G version, which features a range of 3G prepaid service plans from AT&T Mobility.
The fun has just begun in Taipei. Computex, which began on June 1, runs through June 5.
