Picture This: Polaroid Develops New Series of Budget Tablets

You won't need to shake these Polaroids for 30 seconds. Today, Polaroid, the photo pioneer which now sells consumer electronics, unveiled its low-cost Q Series of quad-core, Android 4.4-based tablets. The 7-inch  Q7 ($129), 8-inch Q8 ($149) and 10.1-inch Q10 ($179) allow the company to hit aggressive price points in all the major tablet form factors.

Polaroid offered few details in its announcement, but we know that all three versions will feature  front and rear cameras, HDMI out, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity and front-facing speakers. The company did not say what make or model of processors the tablets will ship with, but disclosed that they will pack 1GB of RAM and 8 or 16GB of internal storage.

Despite these modest specs, the slates will run Google's latest mobile operating system Android 4.4 KitKat. While the Q series tablets  look somewhat chunky from Polaroid's press images, their gray trim helps them stand out. Whether this lineup can compete with the latest budget offerings from ASUS and Hisense remains to be seen.

We look forward to getting more information on the Q series tablets to see if they truly are a bargain, so stay tuned for our hands-on from CES next week. 

Cherlynn Low
Staff Writer
Cherlynn joined the Laptopmag team in June 2013 and has since been writing about all things tech and digital with a focus on mobile and Internet software development. She also edits and reports occasionally on video. She graduated with a M.S. in Journalism (Broadcast) from Columbia University in May 2013 and has been designing personal websites since 2001.