Japanese firm comes up with cheaper alternative to Apple's iPad

New York, June 2 (ANI): Japan's Orphan Electronics has launched the "iPed", which comes in a casing identical to Apple's iPad.

According to Fox News, "iPed" is starting to hit the Chinese market.

According to a report on the Japan News Network (JNN), the cheaper alternative device was released over the weekend, and reportedly runs version 1.5 of Google's Android operating system rather than the Apple iPhone OS.

Apple's entry-level iPad model starts at 499 dollars and can cost as much as 829 dollars. The iPed is priced at a more competitive level, reportedly selling for 150 dollars. And at that price, it houses a 16GB storage drive and includes 1GB of RAM. The entry-level iPad has a 16GB runs on just 256MB of RAM.

PCmag.com reports that the iPed sports a 600-MHz processor and has a screen resolution of only 800 by 480 pixels.

For comparison's sake, the Apple iPad's 1-GHz Apple A4 processor powers a 1024-by-768-pixel screen. That said, the iPad's 9.7-inch display is a bit bigger than the iPed's 7-inch screen. The only catch: Where to get the new device. According to Internet reports, the iPed is available only in China.

The tablet will be put on sale in the first quarter of next year, with prices expected at between 399 dollars and 449 dollars. Shih gave few details about the application store, but said Asustek will develop it jointly with Intel and that the store will also run on Windows. (ANI)