Andre Yoskowitz
17 Oct 2012 21:22
Today, the hit-or-miss site DigiTimes reported that Google is actively building a $99 Nexus tablet, following up on past rumors from prominent analysts and east Asian suppliers.
In the report, the site claims Google is working with manufacturers WonderMedia, HannStar, and Quanta. Furthermore, Google will use a WonderMedia PRIZM 8950 processor, reads the report.
This however, is where the story seems to fall apart. The PRIZM is a single-core Cortex-A9, running at just 800MHz, making it particularly useless for a tablet which would run Android 4.1 with hopefully an HD display. There is little chance Google will choose to ruin their highly regarded Nexus brand with an under-powered, under-performing device.
Most likely, if Google is really trying to create a $99 tablet, it will use a capable yet low-end S4 Pro from Qualcomm, or potentially a TI OMAP 4 like the one in the Kindle Fire.