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Toshiba 13- and 7.7-inch tablet prototypes hands-on (video)
Thought you found out everything you could ever possibly need to know about new Toshiba tablets with the announcement of the Excite X10? Think again, sucka. Toshiba showed off two new prototypes on the showroom floor alongside the recently announced 10-incher. The devices are both in the too-early-to-be-named stage right now, so let's just call them the 13- and 7.7-inch tablets. In fact, that company isn't even sure it's actually going to bring either to market at any point -- according to a spokesperson, the Toshiba just brought them along to the show to gauge crowd interest in the form factors. Unfortunately, this being so early in the development process, the company didn't have many on hand. The two we spent time with wouldn't actually power on, though we were able to peep powered on units, though, sadly, they was hanging out behind pieces of glass. But even from that vantage point, the display on the 7.7 was a thing to behold, a really gorgeous AMOLED panel. The device is a nice size, as well -- it's extremely thin, with rounded corners and a border running around the entire perimeter, pressing up against the slightly convex textured aluminum rear. A small back facing cam sits on the top. Two small speaker grills sit on the bottom of the device, with a SD slot and microUSB port on one of the sides. It's really a terrific industrial design -- this is what those Thrive tablets should have looked like. We asked a Toshiba representative whether the bulky Thrives could peacefully co-exist with this kind of design, and he told us that it can indeed, as more of a budget alternative to these high end devices. The 13-inch tablet features a similar design, albeit much larger. Like the 7.7, it feels relatively light for its size, but there's just no way to hold a tablet that size in one hand. It really is extremely thin for a tablet of that size, as well. The company tells us that the slate it is intended for families, and really, at this size, it does feel a bit like a small TV. Check out a video of the devices after the break.
Toshiba's rumored ultra-thin tablet plays peek-a-boo at IFA?
Well, would you look at that? It appears someone just can't manage to stay out of our field of vision. The shot you see above is apparently the same ultra-thin tablet we ran across two days ago in what appeared to be leaked renders. Now, it's reportedly peeking out of a booth at IFA. From what we (and now you) can see, it's running Android and sporting a front facing camera. Rumor has it, the slate will also carry a TI OMAP4460 dual-core 1.5GHz processor, micro-USB, micro HDMI and microSD slots. Of course, we'll just have to wait see if things shake out, but we'll be here at IFA trying our damndest to get this skinny sucker to come out of hiding.
Toshiba rumored to be announcing ultra-thin tablet at IFA after chunky Thrive did anything but
With a tablet market dominated by the svelte iPad 2, a device with a "chunky design" isn't bound to Thrive. According to Notebook Italia, Toshiba's expected to announce a new ultra-thin tablet at IFA this week, swapping full-size USB and HDMI ports for micro-USB, micro HDMI, and microSD slots in order to shave off a few millimeters from last year's model, leaving the new device with a sleeker, much more appealing design. The rumored slate is expected to ship with a TI OMAP4460 dual-core 1.5GHz processor, an edge-to-edge screen, and a brushed-metal housing. Other specs, including Android version and screen size are a bit thin at this point, but we should have only a few more days to wait before Toshiba's new tab makes its glorious IFA debut in Berlin. [Thanks, Marco]
Toshiba's Regza AT300 tablet for the Japanese market delayed until late July, will ship with Android 3.1
To any of our Japanese readers who've been impatiently awaiting Toshiba's Regza AT300 tablet, you're going to have to hold your breath a touch longer. The 10.1-inch, Japan-only slate is going to miss its expected June arrival, and ship in late July instead. That extra tedious trip to market could be worth it, though: when the AT300 finally does land in Akihabara, it'll come with Android 3.1 and all of its resizable widgets on board. But don't expect any surprises, hardware-wise: it'll still pack Tegra 2, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, and those full-sized HDMI and USB ports that can make a nerd's heart sing. Makes sense to us, since the Thrive -- the same tablet for the US market -- was already slated to ship with the latest version of Honeycomb. Fair's fair, right?
Toshiba abandoning plans for Windows 7 tablet, Chromebook?
We were expecting Toshiba to launch its Windows 7 tablet during the second half of this year, but rumor has it that the company may be abandoning the slate altogether. DigiTimes is reporting that both the 11.6-inch slab and a forthcoming Chromebook have disappeared from Toshiba's product launchpad, according to sources within the industry. The Chromebook will reportedly be slashed due to disappointing netbook sales in 2010, whereas the reasons behind the tablet's cancellation remain less clear. DigiTimes suggests that Toshiba may be throwing all of its weight behind its new Honeycomb-powered Thrive slate, meaning that its Windows 7 counterpart could either be delayed even further, or simply relinquished. There's obviously plenty of speculation swirling around, but we'll let you know as soon as we receive more concrete reports.
Product portal, tweets suggest 'Thrive' moniker for Toshiba's Honeycomb tablet
"What's in a name?" We'd ask Toshiba, but the company hasn't been able to give its upcoming 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet one in five months -- or has it? If you'll recall, Toshiba registered the name Thrive for trademark and related domain names last month, and now evidence is mounting that all of that work wasn't in vain. TabletCommunity learned days ago that a commercial for the device was in production via some chatty actors on Twitter; soon after, the site also uncovered a parking page for the slate on Toshiba's website, albeit with little more than the aforesaid name categorized under "Tablets." It's a welcome update in light of the vapid titles "Antares" and "ANT300" that had also seemed possible, and once word spills of US pricing and availability, perhaps we can focus on more pressing matters... you know, like benchmarks. [Thanks, Jakob]
Trademark filing, domain names suggest Toshiba's tablet might be named 'Thrive'
Could Toshiba's nameless Honeycomb tablet finally have a proper name? Thanks to a helpful tipster, we now have our clearest indication yet. Toshiba just filled a trademark application for the name "Thrive" last week and, as you can see above, it clearly describes the goods and services being trademarked as a tablet computer. What's more, it seems that the company's also gone on a bit of a domain name buying spree as of late, with it snapping up a number of "Thrive" variations including ToshibaThrive.com, ThriveTablet.com, ThriveToshiba.com and TabletThrive.com (none of which actually go anywhere just yet). Of course, this isn't the first possible moniker for the tablet that's cropped up. The name "Antares" surfaced way back at Mobile World Congress, which could account for the ANT model name we also spotted, although it certainly sounds more like a codename than "Thrive" does to our ears -- and, as far as we can tell, Toshiba hasn't attempted to register a trademark for Antares (or any other names recently, for that matter). [Thanks, Babyfacemagee]
Staples leak reveals April / June ship dates for Acer Iconia Tab, Toshiba tablet
Not to say Staples' release schedule is the be-all-end-all resource when it comes to US availability, but we'll take any guidance we can get when it comes to the two mystery products tucked beside Dell's Streak and Apple's iPad 2. According to this tablet lineup, Acer's Iconia Tab will be hitting shelves for an undisclosed rate at the end of April, while the still unnamed Toshiba tablet gets loosed in mid-June. We'll feel a lot better about the wait once these things are priced, but for now, you've got two more reasons to rush the rest of winter away -- assuming you're north of the Mason-Dixon, of course.
Toshiba's nameless Honeycomb tablet flaunts its removable battery
We've seen a lot of identically spec'd Honeycomb tablets in the past few weeks, and Toshiba's forthcoming Android 3.0 tablet has a lot of the same -- a 10.1-inch display, NVIDIA Tegra 2, and dual cameras -- except it boasts something the others don't... a removable battery. We don't know exactly why other tablet manufacturers, like Motorola, Samsung, and LG, aren't opting to include swappable cells, but Toshiba's tablet, which is still supposed to drop in April, will allow you to pull out that 2030mAH battery when it's drained and replace it with an extra if you so choose to buy one. Obviously, we're hoping the battery lasts long enough on a charge that you won't have to resort to that, but there's something to be said for knowing you've got back up. Need some visual proof of this one? Hit the break to witness the quick pull and don't mind the messy innards -- Toshiba assures us this is still a very early sample. Note: We're assuming the actual capacity of the battery may change since we just pulled those 2030mAH / 23Wh numbers off the sample we saw. %Gallery-116777%
Toshiba launches Flashy tablet teaser site, still doesn't have a name for said tablet
Nope, Toshiba's recently announced Android 3.0 tablet doesn't have a name yet, but it does have its own Flash-based website. The site doesn't reveal anything all that new about the device -- we already knew it had a Tegra 2 processor, replaceable battery, and a 1280 x 800-resolution, 10.1-inch display -- however, it does provide a pretty nice tour of the tablet with a 360 view of the hardware. Speaking of that tour, Toshiba specifically points out that the tablet will in fact keep those "Quick-Key buttons," even though Google's Matias Duarte told us that they aren't required. You still have to wait until the spring to get this one in hand, but hit the source link to get a pretty nice virtual look at it right now. Updated: Ah, it really is all about Flash, isn't Toshiba? Ina Fried over at AllThingsD noticed that if you try and load Toshiba's new tablet site on an iOS device the following message appears: "Such a shame... if you had a Toshiba Tablet you would enjoy the entire internet. Yep, Flash sites too." That's true Toshiba, but we don't have your tablet right now, do we?
Toshiba announces unnamed Tegra 2-powered Android tablet, waits only for Honeycomb
Let the Tegra 2-powered, Android Honeycomb tablet announcements begin! Apparently (and understandably) staying away from a Folio 2 moniker, Toshiba is kicking off CES with its new unnamed 10.1-inch Android tablet, and we have to say from our brief look at a non-working unit a few weeks ago, it may just have what it takes to stick out from the rest.. at least on the spec and manufacturing quality front. The tablet has a capacitive, high 1280 x 800-resolution display along with an accelerometer and ambient light sensor (or what Toshiba has dubbed as Adaptive Display technology). It also has a 5 megapixel rear camera as well as a 2 megapixel front-facing one. Yep, this one is well stocked and just a quick look at the pictures below will show that the slab has got full sized USB and HDMI jacks, a single mini-USB socket, and an SD card slot. While we couldn't turn on the dual-core Tegra 2-powered tablet, which will eventually run "the next version of Android designed for tablets" aka Honeycomb, we have to say the EasyGrip, spill-resistant, rubberized back felt really solid in hand and the 1.7-pound, .6-inch thick tablet felt comparable to the iPad in terms of portability. Oh, and did we mention that the aforementioned rear cover is swappable, so not only can you change its color but you can replace the battery? We told you it had some of the ingredients to make it go far, but we're obviously lacking quite a bit of information here to make any further decisions. Toshiba's maintaining that the tablet will be released in the first half of 2011 (it obviously has to wait until Honeycomb has been made official) and the pricing will be competitive, but we'll be digging for more when we get to Vegas and hopefully reporting back with some impressions of a working unit. %Gallery-112321%
Toshiba's Android tablet said to be coming in September or October
We can't say Digitimes is overflowing with details on Toshiba's long rumored Android tablet, but it looks like we should be marking our planners for a September or October release. As we've heard before the 10-inch tablet will run some version of Android and will be powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. The early fall timing surely does make sense to us considering we just heard from NVIDIA this week that many of its partners are planning to release Tegra 2 devices in that time frame. Again, no real details on what Toshiba's planning here in terms of pricing and specs, but here's hoping it's significantly less expensive than that new, fancy dualscreen Libretto W100. Note: That's not the actual Toshiba Android tablet up there -- it's just a poor Photoshop of the Toshiba JournE with a Android screen.
Toshiba's tablets said to offer Tegra 2 power, have we already seen the Android version?
News continues to trickle out about Toshiba's upcoming tablets, which we learned just last week would come in both Windows and Android flavors and would be shipping before the year is through. Now it seems that both versions, despite offering different designs, will offer NVIDIA Tegra 2 internals. That both tablets will be manufactured by Compal makes us wonder if we weren't given a preview of the future Tosh model when playing with a 7-inch Android prototype at CES in January, pictured above. There's a video of that after the break to refresh your memory, a relic dating from the pre-G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra era. Simpler times, those.
Toshiba reveals more tablet details, confirms Windows and Android versions
It wasn't that long ago that we heard confirmation from Toshiba America's Jeff Barney that there was a slate coming from the company in early 2011. Now Jeff has disclosed a bit more information to Reuters, including the presence of not one but at least two of the things, and he's saying they'll be out before the year is through. The first will be a premium model running Windows 7, roughly 10 inches in size and, interestingly, having not one but two screens. (Is this you, Courier?) The second will run Android and is said to come in at a lower price, though beyond that it's up to you to decide what kind of specs it should have. The prime intent for both is "media consumption" according to Barney, who sees the presence of slates as "expansive like netbooks." In other words: not stealing sales from the company's laptop business. Given he also took the time to talk up the 50-percent boost in Toshiba laptop and PC sales this year, he'd better hope that's the case.
