Folio Finally
With IFA in full swing, it was only a matter of time before Toshiba's persistently-rumoured tablet was made official. That time is now, and the full-details on the Folio 100, as it will be known, are now available.
As suspected, the tablet will run a custom interface on top of Android 2.2 (‘Froyo') and will be powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 2 SoC. The display will be a 10.1in capacitive-multitouch screen with a resolution of 1,024x600px. An accelerometer will be built in to automatically detect the orientation of the device and make sure everything is always the right way up.
The Folio will include 16GB internal storage that can be expanded via a combined SD/MMC card reader. As for communication, the tablet will features 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and 3G broadband, as well as USB-in and -out and an HDMI port.
According to the specs, the tablet will be 14mm thick and weigh in at 760g. For reference, this is 0.6mm thicker and 30g heavier than the 3G iPad. The battery is rated to last for 7 hours of ‘normal use', which the company defines as 65 per cent web browsing, 25 per cent standby and ten per cent video-playback.
Tosh will be pre-loading the OS with Opera Mobile, Flash 10.1, Documents to Go, Fring (for video-chat) and Evernote. It will also support DLNA for media-streaming to and from the device. Though the tablet won't have access to the Android Market, the company is providing its own marketplace for apps, music and other media.
Of course, the key factor for many customers in the highly-competitive tablet arena will be the cost. Toshiba is pricing a non-3G Folio 100 at £329, including VAT. This would undercut the 16GB WiFi-only iPad by £100, though whether it can provide a comparable experience when it ships - sometime in October in the UK - remains to be seen.
