Over the past few months, new tablet brands seem to be cropping up faster than government scams, and that's saying something. The latest to join the already overcrowded club is Mumbai-based ICE X Electronics, which has announced its first tablet, the ICE Xtreme. This slate runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and is powered by the Allwinner A10 chipset, featuring a 1 GHz Cortex-A8 CPU (though the company claims it's 1.5 GHz), Mali-400 GPU, and 1 GB of RAM. The 7" capacitive, five point multi-touch display has pixel dimensions of 800x480. It ships with 8 GB of usable internal storage, which is not something you often see in cheap tablets. Moreover, the capacity can be further expanded by up to 32 GB via microSD. Finally, its giant 4700 mAh battery should provide ample battery backup. The ICE Xtreme sports dimensions of 7.7" (l) x 4.6" (w) x 0.4" (11 mm) (d), and weighs close to a comfortable 375 grammes.

The specs sheet claims that the gadget is not just capable of playing 1080p (Full HD) video, but can also display 3D content when hooked up to a big screen via its HDMI-Out port. USB OTG (On-The-Go) functionality is also present, allowing you to connect various peripherals, including storage drives and input devices. Internet connectivity is taken care of by its inbuilt Wi-Fi and support for external 3G dongles — the full list of supported internet data cards is available on page 97 of its user manual. A 2 mp "high quality" front camera rounds off the package.

On the software front, the tablet claims to ship preloaded with over 100 apps, with support for the Google Play store to boot. A notable mention in the list of included apps is the in-house developed Teacher X that claims to present school children with premium educational content, somewhat along the lines of Micromax's Funbook Pro.

The ICE Xtreme is available in black and white colours for Rs 7000 via its online store. While it's true that inexpensive tablets are a dime a dozen, it has to be said that the ICE Xtreme has some impressive specs going for it. From the looks of it, ICE X seems to have taken care to ensure that a certain level of quality is maintained both in the value provided, as well as the little finishing touches (refer to its detailed user manual linked above). However, only a full review can tell whether it will be able to match up to our ultra-cheap tablet champions. In the meantime, here are the detailed specifications:

• 7" five point multi-touch capacitive WVGA screen with pixel dimensions of 800x480.
• 2 mp front camera with recording ability.
• Allwinner A10 chipset, 1 GHz - 1.5 GHz CPU, Mali-400 GPU, 1 GB RAM.
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G via external dongle.
• Micro-HDMI with Full HD (1080p) 3D output, USB 2.0, and micro-USB ports.
• 16 GB internal storage (8 GB usable), up to 32 GB via microSD.
• Gyroscope, accelerometer.
• Supported video formats: AVI, 3GP, MP4, FLV, MKV, MOV, MPG, VOB, DAT, KMV.
• Supported audio formats: MP3, WAV, H.263, AAC, OGG, AAC+ Enhanced, MIDI, AMR NB, AAC+.
• Li-polymer 4700 mAh battery.
• Office apps, Google Play, and 100+ preloaded apps.
• 7.7" (w) x 4.6" (h) x 0.4" (11 mm) (d), ~375 grammes.

TAGS: Tablets, 3D, Android, Jayesh