RedPad Number One includes govt apps

A Chinese company has tried to create the antithesis of the iPad for China in what may be unintentional irony. The RedPad Number One, as described in Wall Street Journal anecdotes, would have the same 9.7-inch screen, dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip, and even an iOS-like app tray but would be an Android 3.2 tablet tailored to the Communist Party. Its 9,999 yuan price, equivalent to $1,584, was supposedly to load it with government-related apps, such as checking for accredited journalists or reading supposedly private updates on officials from People's Daily or the microupdate service Weibo.

In irony, the tablet ships with a leather case embodying the Chinese communist motto "serve the people," underscoring the disconnect between the luxury of the tablet and the ideals it's supposed to serve. Despite claiming collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as well as People's Daily, the latter has denied connections other than a content deal and pulled an article covering the slate.

The 16GB, 3G-capable tablet costs 60 percent more than the most expensive, supposedly bourgeois 64GB 3G iPad, which is 6,288 yuan or $996. An equivalent 16GB version of Apple's tablet is 4,688 yuan ($743), or less than half the price.

The existence of the tablet has provoked a minor outrage in China, where citizens are upset that a tablet so expensive would be targeted at government officials where locals often can't afford even the least expensive devices. [via The Verge]

By Electronista Staff