Toshiba FOLIO 100
The Toshiba FOLIO 100 is an Android 2.2 (Froyo) based tablet device – one of a number that should be available in the UK before Christmas. The FOLIO 100 has a 10.1in. 1,024-by-600-pixel capacitive touchscreen, making it comparable in size to the iPad and rather larger than the almost simultaneously announced Samsung Galaxy Tab.
The FOLIO 100 is a larger and heavier device than the Galaxy Tab, measuring 281mm by 181mm by 14mm and weighing 760g. It runs on an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and Toshiba claims up to seven hours of battery life. Wireless connectivity includes 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth — a mobile broadband model with 3G support will become available early in 2011.
Wired connections run to USB and HDMI, and the latter can be enhanced with an optional dock and remote control. The FOLIO 100 also has built-in DLNA support, allowing users to stream content to other devices that support the standard. A 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera allows for video chat over Wi-Fi.
There is 16GB of internal storage, plus an SD card slot for expansion.
Toshiba adds several applications to the standard Android 2.2 offering in a bid to improve productivity out of the box. These include Documents To Go, Opera Mobile for web browsing, FBReader for ebooks, Evernote for note taking and Fring for video calls.
These applications are all available to owners of other Android-based devices via the Android Market, some in free and/or paid versions with enhanced features. Toshiba clearly feels they add value to the FOLIO 100 as preinstalled options, but it's not clear whether you only get the free versions where paid options are available.
Toshiba says the FOLIO 100 will be available in the UK from October. It will cost £329 (inc VAT).
Sandra Vogel