Back in September, GameStop announced that the $499 Android-powered Wikipad gaming tablet would be available through its stores and website on October 31. Around that date, Wikipad said that the tablet was being delayed due to 'necessary minor refinements' and 'a last minute opportunity to refine the Wikipad bundle.'
The company didn't get much more specific than that. However, apparently, Wikipad considers changing something like the screen size a minor refinement, as the company has done just that. Wikipad announced the change today, revealing that the 7-inch Wikipad would be hitting stores in the Spring.
"We wanted to get Wikipad into our community's hands and what we found was that the smaller 7o-inch form factor just seemed right,'" said Fraser Townley, President of Sales at Wikipad, Inc. "The smaller frame delivers an aggressive price while keeping the same amazing specs."
Screen aside, Wikipad retains the same specs as before. These include a quad-core Tegra 3 SoC clocked at 1.4 GHz, 1 GB of DDR2 RAM, at least 16 GB of storage, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. What's more, Wikipad still has plans to release the 10-inch model that was talked about last year. It will just come after the 7-inch model.
Wikipad says that in addition to the new 7-inch form factor, refinements have been made to the dual-analog stick controller to ensure faster response times and a better overall gaming experience.
Nothing more specific than 'spring 2013' as far as a release date is concerned, but we do know that it will cost $249 when it launches. This is significantly less than $499 Wikipad price tag attached to the 10-inch model.
