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Toshiba has entered the Android-based tablet market with the 10-inch FOLIO 100 media tablet powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 2 hardware.
While a number of hardware vendors are holding off on shipping Android-based tablets until the release of the tablet-friendly 3.0 ‘Gingerbread’, Toshiba has joined Samsung in launching a tablet based on the current Android 2.2. Engadget reported that the firm had no plans to launch the FOLIO 100 in the US but said the device has begun shipping to Europe.
Offering 1024 x 600 screen resolution, a 1.3 megapixel camera, USB and SD card ports, 16GB of storage and a mini HDMI video output port, Toshiba claims the FOLIO 100 is good for seven hours of battery life. The standard models have Bluetooth 2.1 +and 802.11n but ‘select models and countries’ will also have 3G connectivity.
Not having 3G connectivity as standard means the FOLIO 100 does not have access to the standard Google Android Marketplace. Instead the Japanese firm is offering a third party software store called the Toshiba Market Place. The firm’s own market will also ensure that applications available for the FOLIO 100 will be optimised for the larger resolution screen, something which most Android applications will not.
The firm also said that a Flash plug in would be available from the Toshiba market place in mid-November, implying that the shipping device isn’t flash enabled. Toshiba told Engadget that the FOLIO 100 will cost €429 for the Wi-Fi version in Germany, €399 in Italy and £329 in the UK. Costlier 3G versions will appear in 2011.
Toshiba UK posted a FOLIO 100 features video on YouTube:
