Might 2013 be the year of $99 Android tablets?
Arguably the biggest mistake Google's hardware partners made at the outset of Android and the whole tablet craze was not undercutting the iPad in price. Sure, you could find some cheaply built Android tablets from overseas manufacturers, but they weren't very good. It appears they may have finally learned their lesson, hence the influx of lower cost Android tablets that are available at every turn, and even rumors of $99 tablets.
One of the latest rumors pegs Acer as prepping a $99 "Iconia B1" Android tablet for 2013. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, it will be a 7-inch slate with a 1024x600 resolution powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. Overall, it will be similarly spec'd to Amazon's Kindle Fire, only less expensive.
Talk of a $99 Acer tablet comes hot on the heels of another rumor suggesting a sub-$100 Nexus 7 from Google is on the horizon. It's an interesting proposition, given that Asus already had to make concessions to build a $199 Nexus 7, and now there's chatter of Android tablets selling for half that price.
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