By 
Have yourself a look-see at these two Android huge devices: the ViewSonic VSD220 and ViewSonic VSD240. At 22-inches and 24-inches, they’re certainly not your typical Android device. Best suited for use as a touchable monitor or countertop entertainment/resource, we can see these catching on in the kitchen if priced right.
Specs on the 24-inch model aren’t currently available, but we’re guessing it’s mostly the same specs only 2-inches bigger. That being said, expect to find:
- Android 4.0 Ice CreamSandwich
- 1920×1080 pixel resolution
- Dual-touch with pinch and zoom
- 2 Full USB ports
- 1 MicroUSB port
- Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth
- 3.5mm headset jack
- DC-in jack for power supply
- 2 1.5-watt speakers
- 1.3MP front facing camera with 720p video
- PC compatible
It comes with a wall mount but the kickstand is more than usable and your most likely scenario considering it’s countertop scenario status.
ViewSonic includes their own custom app on the monitors but you’ll be happy to learn that they’re also equipped with the Google Play Store. That means all the apps and games you’ve downloaded elsewhere will be available on your monitors and you’ll have unfettered access to everything the Google Play store offers. Time to find some good cooking and recipe apps!
These monitors definitely enter an area where Android has yet to see success. It started with phones, it moved into tablets, it merged into phablets, but televisions/monitors/automotive and some other key areas largely go unnoticed.
Will the ViewSonic Smart Monitors have you considering a countertop Android experience? If not, what (if anything) would push you to think about that option?
I got one of these for my wife and it works pretty well with a few exceptions.
The only input available is HDMI which was easy enough to convert to the DVI her computer needed, but there is no phono input for sound to the monitor meaning no sound from the PC except through HDMI – so no sound cards either.
The USB ports are for connecting a keyboard, mouse, etc to the Android OS running on the monitor but they can’t be passed through to the PC via the USB cable that gives touch capability to the computer running Windows 8. I had to use a KVM to switch between the two.
The webcam also only works with Android and cannot be used with an external PC. Just as the Bluetooth and Wifi are Android only as well.
The Android OS runs a little slow, especially with any video like Netflix. Some apps in the Play Store will not show up because they do not recognize the monitor. Installing the Amazon market helps with some apps but other must be side loaded and won’t always work right.
The touch sensing technology is dual camera IR which works pretty well in both Android and Windows 8 but has some issues with sensing touch by finger or any object, as it sometimes registers movement when you are just tapping the screen.
Switching between Android and an external PC is not as simple as it could be but simple enough. Although there is a headphone jack to compliment the speakers in the monitor, there is no physical volume control as is must be controlled through the OSD menu for either use.
All in all this monitor isn’t so bad, to me Android is a plus to this touch screen monitor that is at a decent price and better than most.
Thanks Paul for this …. Seems a bit halfbaked for a dual purpose monitor. However gettng something like this for my parents may be an option. Hopefully the issues you list will be resolved in coming hardware or software releases.
Price?
I’m excited about products (especially display tech) running native android like this. This has always struck me as –the– greatest strength of android. The more the OS proliferates across different devices the more it becomes ubiquitous in a way that could eventually dwarf what even Microsoft accomplished when they standardized an OS for the overwhelming majority of pc’s. With this particular sort of ubiquity comes grand new possibilities in device inter-connectivity the likes of which we’ve only barely tasted so far. I can’t really see iOS running household appliances, being built in to our clothing or in our vehicles, but Android is already making steady progress in these areas. I just want to mount these panels on walls throughout my home and start making my sci-fi dreams come true..!
No camera on the back of the device=deal breaker…..
Are you going to pick it up and point it at something?
You people have no sense of humor…. o_0
I’m rolling on the floor, actually. Hold,… Still,…. camera,… Is,… Heavy,… Someone,… help,…. press,… the,…. button,…. ;-)
Android Central says the 24″ model comes with 1.7 ghz Tegra 3 quad core processor and shipping with JB, not ICS. All at a $500 price point.