AT&T to sell Android tablet

AT&T said it will unveil five Androidsmartphones and one tablet , the Pantech Element, on its 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology) network sometime early in the year.

The Element will sell for $300

The Element will sell for $300 and a two-year contract, The tablet, with an 8-in. touchscreen, would be available Jan. 22. It is the first LTE-connected Android tablet, and will run the Android 3.2 mobile operating system. It is as well waterproof, as demonstrated when a Pantec executive dunked the device into a tank of water on stage at the conference.

Of the five new Android smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy Note may be the most unusual, since it features a 5.3-in. touch screen, larger than other models in the market which usually have touch screens in the 3.5-in. to 4.3-in range. Its size makes it the largest screen on a smartphone, and it runs at 1280 x 800 pixels resolution.

The first Sony 4G LTE smartphone

The first Sony 4G LTE smartphone, the Xperia ion, will as well first run on AT&T. It runs Android 2.3 and will include a 4.6-in. display.

Pantech's Element tablet, running Android 3.2, can be purchased with a new Pantech Burst smartphone for $249.99 if both are on contract. The Burst has a 4-in. screen and sells for $49.99 spontaneously with a two-year contract.

David Haight, vice president of business development at AT&T, said in an interview that the Pantech bundle of the Element and Burst promises to be successful, since AT&T discovered that Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9 did so then when paired with Samsung smartphones while the holiday season. He didn't provide specifics on Galaxy Tab sales, nevertheless.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is mhamblen@computerworld.com .