Details on Android-Powered Asus Tablet Emerges
Comes with 1GB of RAM and a microSD card.
A 7-inch tablet called ME-172V created by Asus was recently outed, with details on the device now providing more insight into the unannounced product.
The benchmark deriving from GLBenchmark confirms an operating system of Android 4.1.1, otherwise known as Jelly Bean. Its screen resolution is apparently 1024 x 552, and will run a CPU frequency from 600MHz to 1,008MHz.
Technical specifications points to the device featuring a VIA WMV8950 processor, 1 GB of RAM and a microSD card, which is a component Google's Nexus 7 lacks.
Comparatively, the Nexus 7's processor is a Tegra 3 quad-core clocked at 1.3GHz, while its memory is also 1 GB. Storage wise, the ME-172V is said to include internal storage of 8 GB, while the former comes in three variants -- 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB.
Other rumored features of the ME-172V are a 4,270mAh battery, a Mali 400 graphics chip and a front-facing camera.
While Asus has yet to formally confirm the device's existence, the price tag is rumored to be $226.

the nook hd is a criminally overlooked cheap tablet with great specs(same cpu as fire hd) and sd slot. this tablet looks like itll be a good alternative to the nexus and fire though. true that sd slot is necessary to have if you like to have music, movies, and games on it.
What? So it has an aspect ratio of...128:69? Or 16:8.625? I don't believe that for a minute. Now if you said 1024x576, I might believe it, but...
I doubt it, remember google can afford to sell things at a loss and expect to make it back with their play store and advertising. Other companies lack that flexibility.
Google is not making a loss on $200 N7 tablets, they are making a small profit on the hardware itself.
The reason why Google priced the N7 with a tiny margin (unlike the $300-400 markup on iToys) is because Google was unhappy with Android's market share progress and wanted to shake things up so they decided to make some aggressively priced models to shock the market hoping to make up the difference on increased GooglePlay sales over time.
Word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing tool and with Apple's tablet market share dropping from 80% to 50% mostly to Android's benefit, I would say Google has indeed succeeded in convincing lots of people to give Android a shot and substantially raise the features-per-dollar bar.
Check the original article he himself has hotlinked above on his own report ("recently outed"). It clearly states this tablet is coming out in SOUTH AFRICA and the price listed above ($226) is based off a conversion of South African money (2000 ZAR). A 16GB Nexus 7 in comparison costs 3200 ZAR ($360).
If it were to come to the US, it would likely cost more around $100-150.
OOPS.
Look at the link to the other toms article, the price is estimated at 2,000 ZAR in south Africa. Im not sure of the taxes or prices in south africa relative to U.S. or europe, but maybe someone could share?