Xiaomi has released a teaser for its latest product coming to Malaysia. Unfortunately, it isn’t the Mi Note, but rather it looks like the Mi Pad will be hitting our shores very soon.
The Mi Pad is Xiaomi’s first-ever tablet, a 7.9-inch Android device that runs on NVIDIA’s Tegra K1 chipset. Last year at the company’s first-ever Malaysian launch event, both Hugo Barra and Bin Lin were seen toting it around, and were more than happy to loan us their device for a quick hands on.
The Mi Pad is powered by the NVIDIA Tegra K1 chipset, which comprises four Cortex-A15 cores running at 2.2GHz and a fifth companion core in a 4+1 array that NVIDIA has pioneered with its Tegra processors. It is the chipset’s GPU, which sports 192 Kepler-based cores, that will likely excite some enthusiasts: back when it was launched, NVIDIA claims it to be 1.5 times more efficient than other mobile GPUs in the market.
Other hardware specs include a 7.9-inch 2048 x 1536 display that’s similar to the iPad Mini, 2GB of RAM, 16 or 64GB of storage (with a microSD card slot that supports up to 128GB cards), 8MP rear and 5MP front cameras, and a generous 6,700mAh battery.
Sources within the company revealed that Xiaomi has had lengthy discussions about whether it was a feasible alternative to the iPad’s burgeoning tablet-centric app ecosystem, but have decided to go ahead with releasing the Mi Pad outside of China, and it looks like it’ll start with Malaysia.
In China, the base 16GB model retails for 1,299 Yuan (about RM750) while the 64GB variant is available for 1,699 Yuan (about RM980). And, given that it has already passed SIRIM’s required certification, it is only a matter of when Xiaomi announces the arrival of the Mi Pad.
(Source: Xiaomi Malaysia (Facebook))
