An Australian-made Android tablet for under $300? Sure.

A couple of days ago we received an email from a company called aussiePADS, telling us that they are busy developing a new, Australian-made Android tablet based on the 1.6GHz Samsung Exynos 4 quad-core processor. For those of you playing at home, you’ll realise this is the very same chip inside the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy Note II. This is one powerful System on a Chip (SoC) and aussiePADS are building a tablet based on this.

Not only will it feature an Exynos 4, but we’re told it will feature the following specs:

• Mali-400 MP4 GPU
• 2GB DDR3 RAM
• 16GB storage space
• 10.1″, 1280*800 capacitive multi-touch screen
• Wifi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0
• 5mp back camera and 0.3mp (VGA) front camera — Update: Likely to be a 2mp front camera now, not 0.3mp
• MicroSD expandable, up to 32GB supported
• HDMI out
• 3.7V 5800mAh battery

At launch, the aussiePAD 2 will be running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but we understand that this will be upgradeable via software updates, meaning an upgrade to Jelly Bean is likely (though a timeframe has not yet been confirmed).

However, perhaps one of the cooler features is the optional keyboard dock, which includes a built in keyboard and supports connection of a USB mouse if desired, transforming the aussiePAD 2 into a laptop replacement. Not only this, but the keyboard dock includes an additional 8000mAh battery which not only powers the tablet, but recharges it as well. The dock also includes speakers which allow enhanced audio output from the tablet.

Unlike a lot of lower-priced tablets, this one is being made designed in Australia, and will have Australian warranty and warranty service available from aussiePAD’s Sydney offices. It also has fairly high specs, that are on par with tablets at twice the price. Note, while the aussiePAD 2 is Australian-designed, it’s made in China according to the specs made here. Much like Apple gear is designed in California, but made in China.

We at Ausdroid are rather keen to see how aussiePADS go in bringing this product to market. Whether it will be a success or not depends entirely on how well the product is made and performs, because at $300, a well made tablet will simply walk off the shelves (Nexus 7 anyone?) We understand that the aussiePAD 2 will be available for pre-sale shortly, with delivery to begin from around 7 January 2013.

We’re hoping to be able to review one of these tablets for you, so hopefully we’ll have some news on this in the new year for you!