The 7-inch tablet class proves very alluring and Asus thought it wise to join the fray and compete on its own terms. The company recently confirmed the upcoming release of the Asus MeMO Pad.

The confirmation came in the form of a dedicated site for the new tablet, touted as the most affordable small tablet and likely to rival the appeal of current leaders namely Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD and the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0.

Asus is not exactly a newbie in the field, having partnered with Google in producing the powerful Nexus 7, so it surely knows its way around.

For starters, the Asian gadget maker deliberately trimmed down the specs it deployed with the MeMO Pad: a single-core 1GHz processor from VIA, a screen resolution of 1024 x 600, a battery pack that runs up to seven hours of operation and Android JellyBean.

This Asus tablet will be sold in two configurations, 8GB and 16GB, and three colours, black, white and pink. The company has yet to determine the slate's starting price but AnandTech has reported that it will retain in the United States for $US149.

The price target makes sense, considering the MeMO Pad's target market and its underpowered attributes. Obviously, Asus would want to test the waters and see if consumers are willing to own a less-capable tablet in exchange for around $US50 of savings.

Take the Nexus 7 for example. This quad-core tablet has a dedicated GPU that reinforces its HD capability. In speed and performance alone, the Nexus 7 will easily beat out the MeMO Pad and for most consumers, the added premium price is not a bother at all.

While the MeMO Pad will rollout with JellyBean sweets, it is expected that the power of the latest Android from Google will be underwhelmed by its anaemic hardware specs. The Nexus 7, on the other hand, is just a super-machine interacting with JellyBean, delivering all the flavour as Google had intended.

Like the Acer Iconia B1 before it, the MeMO Pad is intended for young buyers or those transitioning from laptop to tablet and unwilling to blow some good bucks. Asus will definitely deliver the basics but users will likely outgrow what the tablet can offer real quick and ask for more.