Startup Aava Mobile will show a Windows 8.1 tablet with an 8.3-inch, high-definition screen and Intel’s upcoming Atom tablet processor code-named Bay Trail at the Intel Developer Forum next week.
The tablet’s screen can display images at a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, and the device will join a handful of Windows tablets with screen sizes under 10 inches. Toshiba announced the Encore 8-inch tablet with Windows 8.1 at IFA in Berlin this week, and Acer offers the $249 Iconia W3 tablet running Windows 8.
Aava Mobile’s Bay Trail tablet
The Aava Mobile tablet doesn’t have a name yet and won’t be sold directly to consumers, said Piotr Frasunkiewicz, co-founder of the startup, based in Oulu, Finland.
Instead, the tablet will be built to order for vertical markets such as health care, education and services. Aava will also make the tablet for other device makers who can then sell it to consumers, Frasunkiewicz said.
Aava felt that 8.3 inches is the minimum screen size required to effectively display high-definition content, Frasunkiewicz said. The 8.3-inch tablet is also easy to hold, he said.
Aava did not provide an estimated price for the tablet, but Intel has said that Bay Trail consumer tablets with Windows 8.1 will start at around $350 to $400. Aava is estimating a battery life of 10 hours and has added features that could make the tablet appealing to enterprises.
The tablet has a swappable battery, found in only a few tablets like Hewlett-Packard’s ElitePad 900, which can also be easily disassembled to add memory or storage. Aava Mobile will customize its tablet to meet specific enterprise or tablet-maker requirements, Frasunkiewicz said.
Other enterprise features include docking capabilities. The tablet can withstand a drop of up to 1 meter and has been tested to work in high- and low-temperature environments, Frasunkiewicz said.
Windows 8 adoption in tablets and PCs has been poor so far, but Frasunkiewicz said demand will pick up.
“In vertical markets, the legacy of Windows is a benefit,” said Frasunkiewicz, adding that many companies want to upgrade to tablets that support existing software applications.
Aava will also make a 10.1-inch version of the Windows 8.1 tablet.
Agam Shah is a reporter for the IDG News Service in New York. He covers hardware including PCs, servers, tablets, chips, semiconductors, consumer electronics and peripherals.
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