Tesco’s Technology Venture: What Next?

As large supermarket chains expand into smartphones, TVs and tablets, you can expect them to strive to compete with other devices too. Tablet sales may be rising, but the age of laptops and notebooks has not passed yet, and in the  months Tesco may be attempting to grab a slice of this technology pie with their own laptop. Judging  by its recent attempts in penetrating the electronic consumer goods market, this is no bad thing.

With the release of the Hudl, Tesco launched itself into the tablet market with a solid product and an aggressive pricing strategy. Rivalling Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Tesco’s Hudl comes in at a lower price, yet without compromising on its spec. This 7” HD display tablet has a 1.5GHz quad core processor and Android Jelly Bean OS. The Hudl produces a solid 242ppi and has a screen resolution of 1440 x 900. The Nexus 7 may have the upper hand in this respect,  but the Hudl still outdoes the Samsung Galaxy Tab2 70.

With its plastic front and rubberized design, its feel and quality is similar to the Kindle Fire HD. Unusually for a tablet, the Hudl is designed to be used in landscape as well as portrait mode, and this is emphasized by the positioning of the front camera in the middle of the bezel. Hardware buttons are aligned to the top right when in landscape, which is great for adjusting volume when watching movies, but less handy if you’re using it in portrait mode to check your emails or when browsing.

Other hardware features include a microSD card slot, a microUSB charger, a Micro-HDMI port and a rather surprising 16 GB of internal storage as opposed to the, as expected 8 GB. There’s also potential for up to 32 GB of expanded memory for some serious storage capacity.

Like any other manufacturer worth its salt, Tesco has listened to the concerns of its users and critics. Sure, this is a great tablet, but Tesco must have felt that there’s room for improvement, so when when Tesco launch the revamped Hudl 2 in the autumn, expect a sleeker design and a sharper resolution. The company has really exploded onto the electronics market and are determined to at least remain at the front of the race, if not ahead of the game. Tech giants need to watch out, there’s a new gun in town.