Tesco to compete with Apple and Google with new tablet

UK retailer Tesco has entered the tablet market with a low-priced own-brand product that it hopes will boost online shopping and drive sales of its digital entertainment content.

The 7 inch HD "Hudl" tablet has been designed for "accessibility and convenience" and comes with a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and dual-band Wi-Fi, a 243 pixels per inch screen, a nine hour video battery life and 16GB of memory which can be extended to 48GB. It has an Android Jellybean 4.2.2 operating system which means that customers can access everything on Google and over a million apps.

The Hudl comes in four colours and will be available to buy in store and online (on Tesco.com and Tesco Direct sites) from September 30th and will retail at £119 (€140). According to the retailer, the product will only be available in the UK initially, but may be rolled out internationally to countries such as Ireland thereafter, depending on demand.

The device is specially targeted at Tesco customers, and comes with special features for customers, including a Clubcard TV, which offers free films and TV programmes exclusively for Clubcard holders, banking and of course shopping for groceries, clothing, homeware and more.

The move is part of Tesco’s multichannel strategy, ensuring that customers can shop whenever, however and wherever they want. “It recognises the increasingly important role that smart phones and tablets are playing in people’s lives and how they can make things easier,” Tesco said.