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Sharp intros underwhelming RW-T110 Gingerbread tablet with NFC, not much else on board
Last year, we saw Sharp bust out an array of 7-inch Android slates, including that NFC-packing RW-T107. Now, the Japanese company is adding a slightly larger member to the family, dubbed RW-T110. This 10.1-inch Gingerbread slab (sorry, Ice Creamers) is sporting a 1GHz TI OMAP processor alongside 1GB of RAM, 8GB of onboard storage, a 1280 x 800 display as well as an NFC chip. Additionally, the biz-oriented slate is powered by a 6,240mAh battery, which promises to get you up to nine hours of continuous video payback time. The RW-T110 will be hitting Japanese shelves on March 27th, and while there's no info on whether Sharp plans to launch it in other markets, we doubt you'll miss this run-of-the-mill "Big Pad."
Sharp RW-T107 Android tablet packs NFC reader, will accept payments in Japan
Tools like Square's credit card reader and Apple's proprietary iOS retail system make mobile payments possible in the US, but they're hardly streamlined, or widespread. A new Gingerbread tablet from Sharp -- the RW-T107 -- sets out to simplify payments in Japan with its built-in NFC reader. You won't be using your own tablet to pay -- instead, retailers will utilize point of sale apps to process transactions, without a customer ever needing to swipe their credit card. RFID payment cards, like Sony's FeliCa, have been used throughout Japan for the last decade, so consumers are already familiar with the technology and ready to make payments. There's no word on what retailers will expect to pay to add Sharp's tablet to their checkout mix, but with the company set to release only 5,000 devices per month (and no plans to introduce them to the US), we're not planning to ditch our cash just yet.
