AT&T said Monday that it will begin selling the 10.1-inch Acer Iconia Tab A501, becoming the latest 4G-capable device on the carrier's network. Running Android 3.0 "Honeycomb," the tablet will be available in stores beginning on September 18.
As if Android fragmentation wasn't enough already, Android 3.0 puts Iconia behind the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (with v3.1) and Motorola XOOM (with v3.2), for example. Potential buyers must ask: Which matters more? 4G, or newer Honeycomb?
Customers will have the option to purchase the device outright for $479.99 with no contract agreement, or at $329.99 with a two-year contract which requires a $35 per month plan with 3GB of data.
Other plan options for both prepaid and postpaid customers include a $14.99 monthly 250MB plan and $25 plan for 2GB of data. AT&T offers similar priced plans for iPad 3G customers.
For those wondering, here's the specs, which are the same as the Iconia Tab A500, just adding the HSPA+ radio chip to enable 4G connectivity.
General Model Name: Acer Iconia Tab A501
Network: No Voice Communication, Data Transfers Only, 2G – GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G & 4G LTE
Size – Dimensions: 260 x 177 x 13.3 mm
Weight: 730 g
Display Type: LCD capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors display
Display Size: 10.1 inches
Display Resolution: 800 x 1280 pixels
CPU: Chipset – Tegra 2, Processor – Dual Core 1GHz
GPS: Yes, with A-GPS (Google Maps with Navigation)
Special Features: Accelerometer Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Gyro sensor, Multi-touch input, HDMI output
Camera: 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Video Recording: Yes, 720p
Others: Secondary 2MP Camera
Features: Speakerphone, 3.5 mm audio jack
Memory: Internal Memory 16 or 32 GB storage, 1 GB DDR2 RAM
Memory Expandable: Yes, up to 32GB (microSD)
Battery Type: Standard battery, Li-Ion 3260 mAh (8hrs Gaming, 10 hrs over Wi-Fi)
Connectivity: GPRS / EDGE Yes / Yes, 3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
WLAN / Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth: Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR
USB: Yes V2.0 (Type – microUSB)
Operating System: Android OS, v3.0 (Honeycomb)
Applications/ Organizers: Alarm, Calendar, Calculator, Notes, Google Maps, Latitude, Places
Java: Yes, via 3rd party software
Web Browser: Yes, Wap, HTML, xHTML Rendering
Games: Yes
E-Mail: Email with Push notifications, Gmail, MS Exchange Active Sync