At this year’s CES event in Las Vegas we were wowed by the not-so-well-named Wikipad – an Android tablet that packed games console-style controls and buttons on the left and right side of the screen.
Back then the device was merely a 3D rendering and an idea, but now it’s real, and some of the specifications have changed. The screen size has now increased to 10.1-inches of the IPS variety, sporting a resolution of 1280 x 800 for crisp gaming quality and optimum viewing angles.
In light of Android games becoming more and more akin to console quality, the Wikipad has also been made more powerful; a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor sits inside, running at a tidy 1.4GHz alongside 1GB of DDR2 RAM. Storage starts at 16GB and can be expanded using a microSD card, so you’ll have plenty of space for storing games.
If you happen to fill up your device’s physical memory then you can head to the cloud to stream games over Wi-Fi, as the tablet will come with access to Gaikai, which is the cloud-based gaming system used on select Samsung TVs and is now owned by Sony. Android gaming devices with cloud gaming seems to be the latest tech trend, with the Wikipad joining the OUYA console which has OnLive built in.
Unfortunately one of the most attractive features of the Wikipad – glasses-free 3D gaming – has been dropped, giving us only 2D gaming. Nevertheless, Android Jelly Bean will be the operating system of choice, with access to the Play Store for downloading games such as Dead Trigger.
The Wikipad also boasts an 8-megapixel camera on the back for snaps and video recording, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. Controls for games remain the same, with dual analog sticks (one on each side), a D pad, four Xbox/PlayStation style buttons, a pair of shoulder triggers, plus start and select buttons.
Unfortunately we’re still none the wiser as to when you’ll be able to get your game on with the Wikipad, nor how much it’ll set you back, but for now it’s certainly looking like a great contender to the PS Vita and 3DS XL.
What do you think of the Wikipad?
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Via: Android Community