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Viota M970 tablet has Android 4.0, 1.5GHz processor, and Mali 400 graphics for $120 (hands-on)

Viota M970 tablet has Android 4.0, 1.5GHz processor, and Mali 400 graphics for $120 (hands-on)

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We take a closer look at the Viota M970 tablet, which the company hopes will arrive in the US rebranded by "major retailers."

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Viota? We've never heard of the company either. It's been at CeBIT showing off its M970 tablet to retail buyers and journalists alike, and we decided to take a closer look at this mysterious device. The M970 we saw has a 9.7-inch LCD display with 786 x 1024 resolution, a uni-core 1.5GHz Cortex A8 processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB of storage and a 6000mAh battery. There's also a five-megapixel rear camera and two-megapixel front-facing unit. While the specifications are a little uninspiring, the tablet runs Android 4.0, has a Mali 400 graphics chip, and in this configuration has an MSRP of $120. Viota tells us that production models will have up to 1GB of RAM, a microSD slot, and optional 3G connectivity accessible by a (at the moment empty) plastic flap on the unit's side.

As the spec sheet indicated, the M970 isn't the speediest device out there, but we found it more than capable of multitasking, and navigation around the OS was painless. Unfortunately a broken .apk meant we weren't able to test out the device's gaming performance, but the Mali 400 is a decent enough chip that should be able to handle everything but the most demanding of Android titles. If anything will hold the device back it looks to be its aging Cortex A8 processor (the same architecture as found in the original iPad).

Viota M970 Android tablet hands-on images

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The tablet's display has okay viewing angles and responds well to touch, but is one of the most oleophilic units we've ever seen, and was absolutely impossible to clean using a microfiber cloth. In Viota's defense, the tab has been on display at one of the biggest trade shows in the world for two days now, but it's still a cause for concern. Everything seems well put together though, with only a tiny creak and flex when pushing hard on the tablet's rear panel. All the buttons and rockers have a satisfying click to them, apart from the power button which is bizarrely placed next to the rear camera, and reacts to touch in a sponge-like manner. All told, the M970 looks to be a fantastic device in comparison to similarly-priced offerings on sale at the moment, and although Viota doesn't have a retail presence in the west, the company says it's in talks with "major retailers" to bring a rebranded version of the tablet to the US later this year.