Olivetti OliPad Tablet Features 10-Inch Display, Android OS
The tablet market is an obviously profitable one, so when a company comes forward and announces that they've got their own tablet device heading to consumers, no one is really shocked anymore. But, while it may make sense for other companies to launch tablets, it's when you hear news that a company that was previously invested in typewriters, or programmable calculators, that you know the tablet market is seen as a sure-fire hit for companies. Whether or not the tablet amounts to anything, though, is where it all comes down to. Olivetti, a name that's been hanging around for many, many years now, has just unveiled their plans to bring a tablet of their own into the world, called the OliPad.
Olivetti is an Italian company that has seen success in not only typewriters, or programmable calculators, but also the personal computing space. Competition made it harder for the company to sell their wares, though, and they were almost made bankrupt for their efforts. However, the company is back, now owned by Telecom Italia. While the new OliPad will have a perfect fit in the enterprise market, which Olivetti has focused on in the past, the OliPad should also be made available to the general public.
Olivetti will be putting a major focus on applications that can help those in the enterprise market. Courtesy of the Olivetti Application Warehouse, the tablet will see many applications that are geared specifically towards small or medium-sized enterprises. Applications like the ability to have companies share content within the company, as well as to partners. They are even including the fashion market, with a digital catalog being developed for the tablet as well.
As for specifications of the OliPad, there are a few details still missing. However, we do know that the tablet will feature a 10-inch touchscreen display, and work with integrated WiFi and cellular connections. The price is said to be somewhere around $400. No word on when the device will be made available, either. They also confirmed that the tablet will feature Google's mobile Operating System Android, however there's no word on what version of the OS it will use, or if there will be any modifications made to the User Interface.
[via Technology Review]