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$800 Snapdragon 805-powered developer tablet to start shipping in late April

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By Luis D.

Published: Apr 04, 2014, 9:36 AM

What if we told you that tomorrow's mobile technology is just $800 and a month of waiting away? We're not even joking - manufacturer Intrinsyc is taking orders for the Mobile Development Platform Tablet (MDP/T) for Qualcomm's next 32-bit chipset, the Snapdragon 805. While it may look like a very enticing proposition considering its price to performance ratio, the tablet's isn't made to be a consumer device. It's called a Development Tablet for a reason – mostly because the average user doesn't know what to do with half of the technology stuffed into this powerhouse.

For starters, there are no apps or games in the Play Store at the moment, which can do the blazing-fast 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805 CPU, the Adreno 420 GPU with geometry shaders and hardware tessellation support, the 3GB of LPDDR3 RAM, and the 10-inch 2560x144op (WQHD) display justice. Additionally, the tablet packs a 13MP rear camera with 4K video recording and all kinds of Qualcomm photography tricks, a 2MP front cam, and a pair of infrared 3D cameras for gesture recognition.

The tablet's sensor package comprises accelerometers, a gyroscope, a compass, ambient light sensors, temperature, pressure, and humidity sensors, all managed by a dedicated 600MHz Hexagon signal processing chip. Carrying on to the tab's audio capabilities, they are out of this world - Surround-sound stereo speakers and 7.1 Surround playback, a noise-canceling headset, and a whopping 7 microphones for 5.1 Surround-sound recording. There's also Qualcomm's Fluence Pro tech that lets you use an ultrasonic stylus on any surface and have its movements accurately transmitted to the tablet. Software-wise, the tablet runs a clean build of Android 4.4 bundled with a special Qualcomm developer app suite.

Are you already throwing money at your screen despite our warnings? Hold up, here comes the kicker – the tablet only has a 3400mAh battery! Needless to say, this kind of computing muscle will make short work of the cell. The MDP is literally meant to be used on a savvy developer's desk, plugged in a DC power outlet. That's why it has an actual DC-in port and power brick, like your laptop, in addition to the MicroUSB 3.0 port, a micro-HDMI port, and a microSD slot. Storage space, by the way, is 64GB.

As a whole, this thing makes as much sense for the average user as a cassette tape would make for someone from the year 3000 that hopped on a time machine and traveled to 2014. Then again, that's only our educated opinion. The best part is that we're merely at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the exciting stuff that powerful hardware and clever developers will amaze us with. Some of it is already teased in Qualcomm's promotion video, and if you are of the impatient kind, calm your nerves, because the fun is coming soon. The first Snapdragon 805-powered consumer devices are expected in the fall.

source: Intrinsyc

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Luis D. has a multitude of news, features and review articles written for PhoneArena. He adeptly demystifies complex technology topics, such as the development of advanced materials for bendable device displays and the evolution of chipset manufacturing.