ViewSonic announces ViewPad 10pro tablet with dual OS running Android and Windows 7

ViewPad 10pro is a dual OS tablet and it has a 10.1 inch display with a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution touch display. It also has the usual features such as Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth, HDMI 1080p video out, 1.3 megapixel web camera, USB connectivity and optional docking station.

The special thing about this tablet is the dual OS configuration. It will be shipped with either

1. Windows 7 Home Premium with a 16 GB SSD disk and Android 2.3 Gingerbread
2. Windows 7 Pro with a 32 GB SSD disk and Android 2.3 Gingerbread

It is one of the first tablet powered by the Intel Atom 1.5 GHz processor. This is a single core low power processor with integrated graphics and hardware-accelerated HD video decode and encode.

Windows 7 Pro or Windows Home Premium is the host OS and Android 2.3 is running on top as an application. Switching between Android and Windows happens instantly. Because Android is running on top of Windows, multitasking in Android-mode depends on how smooth it will run on top of another OS. If the Windows OS crashes, so will Android.

ViewPad 10pro has 2 GB internal memory which is the maximum memory supported by the Intel Atom Z670 processor. 512 GB memory should be enough for Android 2.3 and that leaves 1.5 GB left for Windows 7. Hopefully that's enough. In addition to the SSD disk, ViewPad 10pro can be expanded with up to 32 GB microSD memory.

A couple of tablets are running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but Android 3 Honeycomb is the real tablet version of the OS. A dual core processor is not required to run Honeycomb, and Google has earlier said that they do not like to enforce strict hardware specifications. But almost all manufactures releasing a tablet with Android 3 Honeycomb has a dual core NVIDA Tegra 2 processor inside.

Viewsonic has not provided any information how Windows 7 and Android will work together. Content in each operating system will most likely be separated and they will not have access to each other files. Maybe the Android OS will have access to a shared folder on Windows 7 or similar, but you will probably not be able to copy and past text from one application in one OS to an app in the other OS.

The ViewPad does not have 3G access, so Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is the only option for communication.

ViewSonic ViewPad 10pro highlights

• Size: 263 x 170 x 14.8 mm
• Weight: 800 gram 
• 10.1 inch display, multi-touch LCD with LED backlight, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution
• Wi-Fi b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• 1.5 GHz Intel Atom Z670 processor
• HDMI out
• USB
• Operating systems
  • Windows 7 Pro, Android 2.3, 32 GB SSD disk
  • Windows 7 Home Premium, Android 2.3, 16 GB SSD disk
•  Expandable with microSD card. Up to 32 GB
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• G-sensor and light sensor
• 5000 mAh battery gives 8 hour operating time

Expected retail price is USD $699 for Windows 7 Professional 32 GB SSD disk and $599 for the Windows Home Premium 16 GB SSD disk. The optional docking station will be available for $59. The ViewPad will be available in August 2011.