For a while it disappeared off the technology scene radar, but Asus’ MeMO Pad tablet has resurfaced at the Consumer Electronics Show, recently held in Las Vegas.

 

The 7” device’s first claim to fame is its price – at $150 (R1 245) it would be amongst the most affordable of the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) offerings on the market, besting even the affordability of the Nexus 7 in the price stakes, which currently sits in the $250 (R2 000 – R3 000) price range.

 

In terms of what users can expect on the specifications side, the MeMO Pad will sport a 1 GHz VIA WM8950 CPU, a Mali-400 GPU and 1 GB of RAM. Also onboard: a 10-point multi-touch LED-backlit display with 1024 x 600 resolution, a 140-degree wide viewing angles, and a commendable 350-nit brightness – which should enable its screen to hold up nicely outdoors.  

 

 

Perhaps even more notable, as compared to the Nexus 7, is that the MeMO’s 16 GB of internal storage will be offers expandable by up to 32 GB via its microSD card slot.

 

This is a boon for those who intend using their 7” tablet as their ereader, game console and media player, and envision themselves quickly being able to fill their device’s storage space with those 1 GB+ games or video files, and for whom expandable storage is a must.

 

Additionally, the device will also offer a front facing camera – presumably for Skype video chat – and will weigh in at a comfortable 370 g. The all important battery life is rated as being a decent, but not jaw-dropping seven hours, while the tablet will be available in a conservative Titanium Gray, and the more sweetly named colours of Sugar White and Cherry Pink.

 

 

At present though, we don’t have any indication of when, and at what price point, the newly uncovered tablet will make its appearance here. We have reached out to Asus South Africa, and will update this story as more local information becomes available.

 

However, as CES is typically the showcase for what we can expect in the months and year ahead, a decently specced and highly affordable tablet is certainly welcome news to our ears.