According to reports, Asus is apparently set to launch a low-priced 10.1-inch tablet model - dubbed the Asus MeMO Pad Smart - which will likely hit the US markets on Tuesday, March 5.

The key features of the $299-priced MeMO Pad Smart will include a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 IPS screen; a quad-core 1.2GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 processor; 1GB of RAM; and 16GB of on-board storage capacity, with a microSD card slot for storage expansion.

Equipped with a lightly customized version of Google's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, the 1.3 lb Asus MeMO Pad Smart also boasts a 5-megapixel rear camera; and a 1.2-megapixel front camera. The battery life of the tablet has been listed for 8.5 hours of general use or 7.5 hours of HD video-streaming.

The back panel of the relatively sleek - 0.39-inch thin - MeMO Pad Smart is made of a hard, plastic-like material which is extremely sturdy, and lends the tablet a good feel when held in the hands.

Going by the early hands-on reviews about the Asus MeMO Pad Smart, the tablet - which appears highly fetching, especially with its $299 price-tag - is capable of delivering a solid performance; with tests showing hardly any issues with its Web browsing speed, video streaming efficiency, or app-switching capability.