Rumors of a Xiaomi-branded tablet have been scaling the web for quite some time now, and today we can finally put them to rest. At an even in Beijing, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun admitted that the company has been planning a tablet for quite some time, and also made it clear that his company has Apple's iPad on its crosshair with its newly-announced MiPad.
The Xiaomi MiPad is quite the bargain device, no matter how you look at it. It sports a 7.9-inch Sharp display with a crisp resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, or a density of 324 ppi. More impressively, however, the slate scores a first in regards to its "4+1", 2.2GHz Nvidia Tegra K1 chip with a 192-core Kepler GPU. There are 2 gigs of RAM on board, and internal storage sits at either 16 or 64GB, with the option for up to 128GB more through microSD expansion. As for imaging, the MiPad makes use of an 8-megapixel Sony camera (rear) and a 5-megapixel, f/2.0 shooter (front). Finally, there's a 6700 mAh LG battery powering the tab, and it also houses a set of stereo speakers on the back.
The Xiaomi MiPad's dimensions measure in at 202.1 x 135.4 x 8.5 mm, and the tablet tips the scales at 360 grams. The first slate from the company will come in six color options, and it's quite cheap at CN¥1,499 ($240 equivalent) for the 16GB Wi-Fi version, and CN¥1,699 ($270 equivalent) for the 64GB Wi-Fi model. At this time, it's unclear whether Xiaomi is planning on releasing a model with 3G/4G support. Also unknown is the exact release date, though we do know that the MiPad will enter an open testing phase in June, allowing early adopters to pick up the device and help shape its identity, and, of course, root out bugs.
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