A few weeks back we wrote a piece explaining that the Nexus 7, with a footprint half the size of an iPad, isn’t looking to challenge Apple’s tab. If you’re looking for something a little larger, there are plenty of sterling Android-powered options, but none quite so big as the Kouziro FT103.
The FT103 sits on the big end of the really big tablet spectrum. Its screen is a TV-challenging 21.5-inches, which makes it a bit too big for even the most girthy of laps.
Luckily, that size lets it pack in a decent dollop of hardware. It’s powered by a dual-core 1GHz TI OMAP 4428 processor with 1GB of RAM, there’s two USB ports, micro HDMI output and 8GB of inbuilt storage. And thankfully, the beast runs on Android 4.0. That means it can access Sky Go, alongside web services like the Freeview-boasting TV Catchup.
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Of course, there are some caveats. The most obvious of which being that, due to its immense size, it weighs a hefty 5kg. Then there’s the fact that it doesn’t have a battery – it has to be wired up at all times. Oh, and it only works in its rested horizontal orientation. Still, with that much screen estate, that’s hardly an issue.
Google’s putting some time and money in relaunching Google TV on these shores with the help of Sony, but the boxes are costly and the remotes ungainly. If people prove to want a way to access Smart TV functionality on the cheap (the Kouziro FT103 is $400, or £257), maybe overgrown Android tabs are the answer Google’s been looking for?
