It seems like everyone wants to get in on the tablet market with their own device, and apparently beleaguered retailer Best Buy is no different. Starting November 11th, they"ll be offering their own Android tablet, the Insignia Flex, named for their electronics store brand.
Business Week says that the new device will run Ice Cream Sandwich (God forbid an Android device that runs the latest OS), and will sell for about $250, putting it in competition with the likes of Amazon"s Kindle Fire and Google"s own Nexus 7.
There"s one thing setting the Insignia Flex apart from those other devices: size. Best Buy"s tablet will reportedly be packing a 9.7 inch display, putting it more in line with Apple"s iPad than its budget-priced Android competitors.
We"ve still got a ton of questions about the device, like whether it"ll be running vanilla Android, or some sort of souped-up in-house variety along the lines of the Kindle Fire. We"ll also be really interested to see what Best Buy can do to set itself apart from the competition, other than the Flex"s form factor. Since Rhapsody acquired Napster from them, Best Buy"s portfolio is virtually devoid of any online services, save for a rather lame app search engine called the App Discovery Center.
But who knows - maybe they"ll find the secret sauce to catch some of Amazon"s Android success. It just seems like an utterly bizarre, out of character move for a troubled electronics retailer to launch a tablet while they"re struggling to stay afloat. The Insignia Flex is launching November 11th with a dual core, 1GHz processor and 10 hours of battery life.
Source: Business Week | Reuters | Image via Insignia