Even as the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet go on sale this week, the next generation of Android-powered tablets is getting closer to release. Engadget reports via an unnamed source that Lenovo plans to offer up a 10.1 inch tablet by the end of 2011 that will not only have Android 4.0 (or Ice Cream Sandwich) as its operating system but will have NVIDIA"s multi-core Tegra 3 processor running the hardware inside.
The article has some more info about the hardware specs of this product, including word that the Tegra 3 chip will have a clock speed of 1.6 GHz. Look for 2 GB of RAM inside along with a rear facing camera and even a fingerprint scanner.
There"s no word on pricing for this tablet but with all of the high end hardware inside we don"t think this will be one of those sub-$200 products like the Kindle Fire. It sounds very much like this Lenovo tablet will be more of a notebook replacement device. Whether or not there will be a demand for such a tablet remains to be seen.
One thing is for sure; the Tegra 3 processor is popping up more and more in both official press releases (the Asus Transformer Prime tablet) and in rumors (an HTC made smartphone reportedly due for release in 2012). This may be a good sign for NVIDIA as it tries to compete with other ARM-designed processors for the tablet and smartphone markets.