At CES today, ViewSonic will launch a four-inch, Android 2.2-based tablet/phone dubbed the ViewPad 4, a ViewSonic exec said on Wednesday night, confirming earlier rumors around an until now nameless gadget in the same general category as Dell’s five-inch Streak.

The ViewPad 4 will have phone calling features, and it will sell for $549 unlocked upon its eventual release, said Josephine Chiu, a ViewSonic product manager, speakng with me at a pre-show Pepcom press event in Las Vegas.

“But we’re calling [the ViewPad 4] a tablet,” according to Chiu. ViewSonic didn’t have a ViewPad 4 on hand to look at during Pepcom’s Digital Experience, but Chiu said the device will be on display in ViewSonic’s booth when the CES show floor opens its doors today.

Chiu also spelled out some of the specs on the Android-enabled four-incher, which include a 4.1-inch touchscreen, Qualcomm processor, Web browser, Swype input, and  5MP rear- and 3 mp front-facing cameras.

The ViewPad 4 will also include a virtual keyboard, but no hard keyboard, according to Chiu.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on a prospective Android-enabled four-inch phone/tablet hybrid from ViewSonic on December 30, but the earlier story was slender on specs and based on statements from ViewSonic employees who declined to be identified.

Chiu also told me that ViewSonic will release its previously announced seven-inch ViewPad 7 Android tablet and ten-inch ViewPad 10 Android/Windows dual-boot tablet over the next two weeks.

 
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