Casio announces the Paper Writer V-N500, at the ridiculous price of $2,500

The Venn Diagram for success in the Android tablet world is pretty clear. Delivering great specs at a low cost. If you can fit your Android tablet into that, then you’re probably going to sell a lot of them. That was the case for the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD. Casio has decided that they want nothing to do with this winning formula. Instead, they released a mediocre tablet that’s absurdly expensive.
Casio has announced the Paper Writer V-N500 which carries a price tag of ¥200,000. That is about $2,500 per tablet. At that price, one would expect it to be packing an octo-core processor and be plated in gold. That is not the case.
The tablet packs a 10.1 inch screen with a resolution of 1280×800. So there is no HD. It has a 1.5GHz dual core OMAP processor, runs Android 4.0, and has a removable battery. Combined with the dated specs, the tablet also includes a special case that allows it to scan documents and business cards.
Being able to scan the special case includes an area where you can strap a sheet of paper in and the device’s 5MP camera will scan the document. It can also scan business cards. The special interface Casio created for the tablet is able to recognize special characters. This allows users to assign commands when they see them. For instance, if they see the pound sign, it could create a calender event.

So who, exactly, is going to want to buy this Casio tablet?

Casio has expressed that this isn’t the kind of thing individuals will buy. That was actually a relief to hear because we’d hate to think a leader at a company that big had gone that crazy. They already know the average consumer won’t be interested. Casio’s tablet will be offered to business as a solution for their workers and will likely be sold in bulk to offices and other businesses.
There is some good news, though. Casio has promised to keep supporting the tablet for a few years. That’s way longer than most OEMs support their devices. So if a business actually does invest in this, at least they won’t have to upgrade for a little while. Of course, that doesn’t make the tablet any more worth it. It also doesn’t prevent Casio from releasing upgraded hardware next year anyway.
If you want to see the full demonstration, check out the video below. Is there any business crazy enough to buy into this? Let us know what you think.

Posted in: Android, Casio, Paper Writer V-N500, say what?