Android's had a quiet showing here at Computex Taipei, but Acer just snuck out a new product that could well represent a breakthrough for the platform at large. The Iconia Tab A110 is at the company's booth without much fanfare, and on the face of it isn't particularly interesting — a 7-inch tablet with Android 4.0 that's powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. However, we spoke to an Acer representative who said that the A110 would be positioned as the company's main low-end device when it's released in the third quarter of the year, and that it will cost less than $200. If true, the aggressive pricing means it could well be the first beneficiary of Nvidia's $199 Kai program, though the representative wasn't able to comment on this.

Next to a Kindle Fire, we know which one we'd choose

We've heard a lot of rumors about inexpensive Tegra 3 tablets since first laying eyes on Asus's Eee pad MeMO ME370T at CES, not least the one about a Google Nexus device in the same price and specification range as this new Acer slate. After using the A110 for a while, we'd say that you'd certainly get value for your money — its Ice Cream Sandwich skin is almost free of customization besides the green shortcuts dot next to the on-screen buttons, and it performed pretty well in a Quadrant benchmark with a score just short of the Asus Transformer Prime. It's a little thick at 11.4mm, and the screen's viewing angles aren't so impressive, but next to a Kindle Fire at the same price point we know which one we'd choose.

Next to the A110 at Acer's booth was the Iconia Tab A210, a similarly-specced and skinned device with a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 screen. It looks like it'll be released at around the same time as the A110, though it'll likely be more expensive. Both tablets feature 1GB RAM, a single front-facing camera, and a microSD card slot. The A210 has a full-sized USB port and the option for 3G connectivity, while the A110 gains an HDMI socket with dual-display support.