Kmart, the retailer, releases a circular advertising Augen's 7-inch tablet that runs on the Android operating system, giving an option to consumers who want easy, on-the-go internet access without the cost of an iPad or a netbook.

Its retail price through July 31 is listed at $US 149.99. The new tablet beats netbooks, iPads, and even subsidized smartphones in price. It's small, light, and easily portable in a purse. Comparable in size and price to Amazon's latest Kindle model with Wi-fi, it even makes for a comfortable alternative to a dedicated e-reader. The features, combined with the fact that the tablet's price is less than a third of the iPad, making the model a viable option for consumers on the mass market.

Despite the low cost, the tablet does have some drawbacks. While its Android operating system will be unfamiliar to many users and perhaps less easy to use than the Mac OS, it is comparable in usability to Windows, though it might take some getting used to. The tablet, like others available, offers less flexibility in computing tasks - it's not ideal for document creation and editing that might still be done more easily on a traditional computer. Finally, for a tablet with a touchpad, the stylus that's included seems like an unnecessary relic from an earlier digital era.

With demand for mobile access to media and web content taking off among consumers, the new tablet could represent an important entry point to the market for consumers unwilling to pay more for a netbook and uncomfortable with the contract required for smartphone access.

Target users might include employees who need access to information for work while moving from place to place, or seniors with limited technical knowledge of computers. While sparse access to Wi-fi in small towns and disadvantaged areas might present a barrier for some potential users, the tablet could open up an untapped area of the market and help to spread tablet technology far beyond the world of the tech-savvy.

With Kmart currently issuing rain checks for the tablet, it's not yet possible to see how customers will respond to the offer, and the price could go up after July 31. But the tablet could mark the beginning of a lower-cost, no-commitment boom in access to mobile computing and content.