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Digital
Tesco to put entertainment at the heart of new tablet device
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 21 August 2013
Tesco is reportedly planning to launch its own tablet computer in the run up to Christmas this year. The company apparently hopes to win back the attention of shoppers, who have been turning elsewhere for entertainment offerings while spending less on groceries in recent years (perhaps they’re all on the iPad/iTunes diet).
According to The Times, access to music, books and films will be a key selling point of the device. Exactly what this means isn’t entirely clear. The newspaper talks in terms of the tablet being “pre-loaded” with content. However, it seems more likely that free access to Tesco’s Blinkbox service (if only temporarily) will be the offering included.
Tesco purchased film streaming site Blinkbox in 2011, relaunching the We7 music streaming service (which it purchased last year) as Blinkbox Music in June. The company is also currently developing a digital book offshoot called Blinkbox Books.
In addition to this, the tablet will apparently come with pre-loaded apps for other Tesco services, such as banking and, of course, grocery shopping. In terms of its overall spec, it’s expected to compete directly with the basic model of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which currently retails at around £130. However, at the point of launch, it is likely to be up against the next Apple iPad Mini, Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s new line of Kindle Fire devices.
Also not clear is what operating system the Tesco device will run, though it will most likely be a skinned version of Google’s Android.
