ViewSonic Unveils 7-Inch ViewPad, Prepares 10-inch Version

ViewSonic entered the Android space on Monday, with its new 7-inch ViewPad 7 tablet running Android OS 2.2.

For those who still want to be able to load Windows 7 enterprise applications, ViewSonic next year will release the ViewPad 10, a 10-inch tablet that will include dual-boot capability for Android 1.6 and Windows.

The ViewPad 7 is designed for business users such as mobile salespeople or investment adjustors, and its 10 hours of battery life and inclusion of Google Mobile services are advantages for professionals on the road, said Adam Hanin, vice president of marketing at ViewSonic, in an interview with CRN

"We're very excited about our ViewPad line because we see it as a rapidly growing market, one that our reseller partners can take advantage of," Hanin said. "We think we have the products to help them do that."

The ViewPad 7 features front and rear-facing cameras, 3G networking capabilities, a 1-Ghz Snapdragon processor and 512MB of storage, expandable to 32GB via microSD cards.

Next: ViewPad 10 Details

The ViewPad 10 features a 1.66-Ghz Intel Atom processor, a 16-GB solid-state drive, 1 GB of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium. The ViewPad 10 is "for people who like to take the desktop experience with them but don't like the bulkiness of notebooks or netbooks, Hanin said.

Both ViewPads include WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities. However, ViewSonic's tablets have no carrier ties.

"You can essentially use your tablet on any carrier you want, though it's not necessarily certified on those platforms," Hanin said. "The main focus of this product is to maintain connection to the Internet and open-source applications wherever you might be."

The ViewPad 7 Android tablet will be available this month for $479, and the larger ViewPad 10 will be coming in the first quarter of 2011.

Asked what distinguishes ViewSonic from the barrage of OEMs preparing tablets running Windows 7 and Android, Hanin said, "I would question if Dell or HP will be making these products available through the channel."

Next: ViewSonic's Channel Strategy

Hanin cited ViewSonic's channel-centric strategy over its 25-year history and said partners would benefit from ViewSonic's offers of SKUs that resellers can set and additional market opportunities from warranties.

"Everything we do revolves around our channel partners," Hanin said. "I urge resellers to consider: will other vendors allow them to offer tablets? Will they support them in the long-term? Particularly in this tablet space, with so many vendors in the market, that becomes very important."