You know, with all this talk of a rumored Apple iPad Mini, it looks like the folks in the Android crowd are doing what they can to compete on price ahead of time. Case in point is the slashing of price on the Toshiba Thrive.

This Android 3.2 tablet regularly retails for $379.99, but it has been slashed by 35% down to just $248.86. For that price, you get a 7-inch 1280×800 HD multi-touch display, 16GB of internal storage, a full gig of DRAM, built-in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra2 dual-core processor. Unlike some of its more slippery Android cousins, the Toshiba Thrive features an “Easy Grip” finish that helps it be more durable and easier to hold. Other specs and features include the GPS, gyroscope, built-in stereo speakers with SRS Premium Voice Suite and Toshiba Sound Enhancements, Adobe Flash support, micro-HDMI output with full HD 1080p support, mini-USB port, dock connector port, and a microSD card slot.

It’s hard to say how long this sale is going to last, so I suggest you head over to Amazon now to get in on the deal. This is a pretty great Android tablet for less than $250.

The post Toshiba Thrive 16GB Android Tablet on Sale for $250 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The new Toshiba tablet has apparently shaved some weight too, tipping the scales at a paltry 1.18 pounds. Despite the shedding of millimeters and fractions of pounds, the Toshiba Excite 10 LE still has a reasonable assortment of connectivity options, including microUSB, HDMI, microSD, WiFi, and Bluetooth.

Power comes by way of an OMAP 4430 1.2GHz dual core processor and Android 3.2 Honeycomb, backing up that 1280×800 10.1-inch AutoBrite Display. Ice Cream Sandwich is being promised by the end of spring. Rounding out the specs are a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera. The 16GB and 32GB models will sell for $529 and $599, respectively.

As I mentioned in my review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, though, thinner isn’t always necessarily better, particularly when it comes to tablets. It’s just harder to get a comfortable grip, but I guess that’s up to personal preference.

The post Toshiba Excite 10 LE Android Tablet As Thin As It Gets appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

As the name suggests, the Thrive 7” Tablet is a 7-inch version of the original which runs on Tegra 2 and possesses a 5 MP and a 2MP cameras, with the rear camera having an LED flash. It also provides a micro-HDMI and mini-USB sockets, docking connector, headphone jack and a micro-SD slot. It is also Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS capable.

The Thrive 7” runs on Android 3.2 and will be rolled out in 16GB and 32GB versions to delight the customers. A Toshiba representative said that the starting price of this new gadget is “less than $400”, and so better prepare this amount if you want to avail of the Thrive 7”.

Some experts were impressed by the Thrive 7” tablet’s 1280 x 800 display which appeared crisp and vivid. The screen also responded very fast on the taps and swipes done by the testers. They said that they are also looking forward to testing Swype on the new Thrive item in the future.

Thrive 7” Tablet will be out in the market on November 2011, so just sit back and relax.

The post Toshiba Thrive 7” Tablet shipping in November for $400 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

A friend of mine recently expressed a great deal of interest in the Toshiba Thrive tablet. I took a look at the spec sheet and I didn’t see a heck of a lot that made it better (or worse) than the competition. Then, I saw the initial pricing of $599 and got turned off. As it turns out, the Thrive can be cheaper.

Powered by Android 3.1 Honeycomb, the Toshiba Thrive is currently being offered for pre-order through Future Shop. If you go all the way down to the 8GB model, this Android tablet can be yours for $429. The 16GB and 32GB variants are being pegged at $479 and $579, respectively. All of them are expected to ship starting August 12th.

Yes, that’s cheaper than the price points that were originally rumored, but it still doesn’t beat the Asus Eee Pad Transformer for value. That’s still selling at $399 for the 16GB model and Asus really didn’t cheap out on build quality or materials. For now, that’s the benchmark, seeing how just about all these tablets are doing 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra2 and dual cameras. The one selling point that differentiates the Thrive from the rest? You can swap the back cover for different colors, including Blue Moon, Raspberry Fusion, Lavender Bliss, Silvery Sky and Green Apple. Tasty? Personally, I’m more interested in the SD Card slot, plus Mini-USB, USB, and HDMI ports.

The post Toshiba Thrive Android 3.1 tablet cheaper than expected appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The tablet market is really starting to heat up and the competitors are beginning to fling mud at one another. Toshiba, for example, is prepping an Android 3.0 device for this spring and it’s taking a direct shot at the iOwners in the audience.

Toshiba has set up a teaser site for its upcoming (yet unnamed) Android tablet we heard about earlier this month, but you can’t access it on your iPhone or iPad. If you do, you’ll get treated to a page that reads:

Such a Shame. Add this to the list of the interesting places on the internet you can’t see on your device. Of course, if you had a Toshiba Tablet you would enjoy the entire internet. Yep, Flash sites too.

Like all the other Android tablets that appeared at CES, the Toshiba variant will support Flash content from around the web. If that’s its only selling point, though, it won’t really differentiate itself from the rest of the Android-powered crowd.

From what we hear, the Toshiba tablet will be powered by the now standard NVIDIA Tegra2 dual core processor, Android 3.0 Honeycomb, and a 1280×800 10-inch capacitive touchscreen. Rounding out the specs are a 5MP camera in the back, a 2MP in the front for video calls, HDMI out, USB in and out, an SD slot, and user-replaceable battery. Wow, now there’s something new. No 3G/4G, but there’s WiFi and Bluetooth.

I don’t anticipate Toshiba’s entry to be a huge competitor in this market, just like how Toshiba MP3 players didn’t exactly make a huge splash, but all these Android folks will certainly present a formidable front against the iPad.

[Hexus via Toshiba Tablet]

The post Toshiba Tablet sticks sweet Honeycomb tongue out at Apple appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Motorola I can understand. But Toshiba announcing an Android tablet? Where’s Microsoft’s tablet OS, have they smartend up? It seems so.

Side by side with the XOOM and you may not notice the difference, Next-Gen tablet packs the same dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, sports the same 10.1″ HD screen with 1280×800 resolution and even the same 2MP front and 5MP back camera specs. They both even have HDMI-out. Hmm.

Maybe Toshiba’s announcement should have been labeled the “This-Gen” tablet. It’s going to be hitting stores “in the first half of 2011,” meaning it might even fall behind the XOOM getting to the market. Regardless, it’s booting Honeycomb and that sure is sweet.

The XOOM definitely has one thing over the Next-Gen: 3G connectivity (with an upgrade to 4G coming in the first half of the year).

On the other hand, Toshiba’s tablet is customizable, has full-sized and mini USB ports, and Toshiba Resolution+ video enhancement to give standard video a more HD-video-ish look. But is that a worthwhile trade-off for 3G?

It looks like Toshiba’s trying to push into new territory, but this seems to have fallen directly in the middle of two markets – not far enough out to compete strongly against mobile 3G tablets, but too far to compete on their home turf of laptops and mobile PCs.

[Toshiba]

The post Toshiba’s Next-Gen Android Honeycomb dual-core tablet appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

No definite specifications were revealed – just these teaser pics – but its still looking like an October launch date for the iPad look-a-like clone.

New Toshiba Tablet: Preview Images[Notebook Italia]
Toshiba SmartPad Gets a Leaky Close-Up: The Ports! [Gizmodo]

The post Sneak peak at Toshiba’s SmartPad tablet due October appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The specs include the pair of 7-inch capacitive touchscreens (1024 x 600 pixels each), an Intel Pentium U5400 1.2Ghz processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 62GB solid state drive, WiFi, WiMAX, Bluetooth, webcam, USB port, and microSD slot. Depending on whether you take the two-hour or four-hour battery, the device weighs in at about 1.5 pounds.

The expectation is that the Toshiba Libretto W100 will be a limited production thing and it’ll hit the streets of Japan for about $1,100. By the time you nab one through an importer like Conics, you can expect to pay closer to $1,400. The virtual keyboard apps make this really ergonomic, as they have a dual thumb style app setup, check out the video for it.

Toshiba W100 unboxing + review PALW100MNG Dual screen UMPC [WowPow]

Toshiba Libretto Hands-On Details Dual-Screen UI, Virtual Keyboard Layouts [Gizmodo]

The post Video: Unboxing the dual-touchscreen Toshiba Libretto W100 tablet appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Toshiba Libretto Tablet Concept

Why have just one touchscreen display, when you can have two? Taking a page out of Microsoft’s abandoned courier project, Toshiba gives it some thought with their libretto tablet concept PC. Formerly known as the libretto W100, you can expect this Smartbook, a new class of devices, to be loaded with full Windows 7 functionality – and tablet mods. Powered by an Intel Pentium processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 62GB SSD (that’s an odd size), 802.11b/g/gn Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 1MP webcam, and a 3D accelerometer for your gyroscopic pleasure.

It’s interesting to see Toshiba embed a pair of seven-inch touchscreen displays for a true “book” like experience. And yes, they do the multi-touch thing too.   Toshiba will provide no fewer than six virtual keyboard modes, plus a virtual touchpad too fully utilizing the dual display technology. The touch keyboards have haptic feedback too. Toshiba expects to fetch a pretty penny ($1,100 US) for its expected launch (in limited quantities) later this summer.

[Tablet2PC via Toshiba]

The post Dual screen tablet concept by Toshiba takes a page out of Microsoft’s Courier project appeared first on Mobile Magazine.