MalataSmb-a1011
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Malata's SMB-A1011 Tegra 2 tablet spotted at GTC 2010, we go hands-on
Despite perennial delays that have mysteriously kept every slate of note from formally shipping out, there are actually a surprising number of Tegra 2 tablets floating around. Like this 10-inch Malata SMB-A1011, for instance, which seems to be very closely related to Hannspree tablet and the Interpad -- all 1GHz, 1024 x 600 tablets with theoretically fabulous spec sheets including Froyo and HDMI-out. We found the device sitting alone and unloved at Allegorithmic's texture compression booth, but after spending a few minutes of quality time we figured out why -- though the Tegra 2 T20 was plenty powerful enough to tilt windmills in real time, build quality was severely lacking. Though not light by any stretch of the imagination, the chassis nonetheless flexed when we picked it up, and we nearly dropped it more than once due to the lack of a good place to grip. There's no stand of any sort to prop it up on a table, but the screen's viewing angles are so poor (especially in the vertical directions) as to completely wash out or darken the screen when we set it down... and at least a half-dozen times the capacitive multitouch digitizer totally failed to respond to our finger. Though Froyo looked clean and had plenty of real estate to work with, the official Google suite of apps (and the Android Market) were lacking, often a major concern even on quality Android devices, and possibly the nail in the coffin for this one at the €399 (about $528) that Hannspree and E-Noa figure their versions are worth. Take a gander at the half-baked hardware yourself in our gallery immediately below, and for Tegra's sake pray that things improve before the Malata hits the market. %Gallery-102961%
Malata's SMB-A1011 is the 10-inch Android tablet we really want to happen (video)
We're seeing so, so many Android tablets dropping every day, so few of which seem to deliver on their promises, that we're getting a bit jaded about the things. But, every now and again we see another one that makes our ears perk up again and make it all feel just like the first time. Such is the Malata SMB-A1011, a 10-inch, 1024 x 600 capacitive tablet running a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor and paired with Tegra 2 graphics. Though we saw a very similar model running Windows 7 at Computex, this one has up to 2GB of system memory and up to 32GB of storage, with microSD expansion and 1080p output over HDMI, along with WiFi b/g and Bluetooth wireless. It's all slathered with Android 2.1, making this a slab we'd certainly make room for in our respective man and woman purses. At this point we know nothing about pricing or availability, but we do know enough to not get our hopes up too high.
