So it's true: the reason we haven't seen any 7-inch Honeycomb tablets thus far is that Android 3.0 just doesn't fit well on screens of that size. This has been our pet theory for some time now, but this morning, Huawei came right out and confirmed it with the announcement of their Android 3.2-running MediaPad.
We know you'll want to know all about the new flavor of Honeycomb, but at the moment all we know is that, unlike Android 3.1, the version that runs on most Android tablets, 3.2 will support 7-inch displays. We can only hope that devices like the HTC Flyer and the new Galaxy Tab 7 will get a taste.
Speaking of the display, the MediaPad sports the sharpest one we've seen on any Honeycomb tablet, with a sky-high pixel density of 217ppi. Though Huawei hasn't yet shared the exact resolution, we have been informed that the screen will be of the decidedly enjoyable IPS variety.
More exciting still is the CPU - the MediaPad will be powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor. That's even beefier than the NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip found in such tablets as the Motorola XOOM and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Other specs include a 1.3MP front camera as well as a 5MP rear shooter, 802.11n WiFi, a GPS radio, HSPA+ support, 8GB of internal storage, an HDMI output port, and of course Bluetooth connectivity. Huawei claims the battery lasts about six hours, though they don't specify how they ran those tests.
Unfortunately, all that power does necessitate a few sacrifices, not the least of which is the thickness (8.6mm). Additionally, Huawei has yet to share pricing, there are "no current plans" for a WiFi-only model, and the tablet won't be arriving in the US until Q3.
Still, we're genuinely intrigued to see what Huawei's cooked up here - though they aren't a brand typically associated with, you know, quality Android products, the MediaPad is certainly a step in the right direction.