After the success of the Apple iPad and the recent announcement of the Galaxy Tab, Toshiba is the latest big name electronics company to try its hand at the touchscreen tablet market. Many of the companies now churning out touchscreens are quite prominent in the mobile phone industry but Toshiba has only released a limited number of mobile phones, such as the TG01 and K01. Toshiba does have a lot of experience of the computer industry though, and hopefully this should be reflected in their new tablet device.
With a 10″ screen the Toshiba Folio 100 is larger than the iPad and the Galaxy Tab. The screen does take more of a widescreen perspective than the Apple and Samsung devices and this should put it in good standing with movie lovers. The tablet runs on the new nVidia Tegra processor which provides extremely smooth and slick speeds with running apps and watching HD videos. Like the Galaxy Tab the Folio 100 runs on Android 2.2 complete with access to Toshiba’s app store.
The Galaxy Tab got a lot of kudos for its double cameras, but unfortunately the Folio 100 does not feature a rear facing camera and instead is limited to a 1.3 megapixel front camera for video calling. Video calling is not available for 3G on the initial version set for release in October, and it is unclear whether this will be included in later versions (as Toshiba have plans to release a 3G version at a later date). You can use video calling over Wi-Fi however, with the VoIP app Fring. This is all fairly acceptable however, as you would not want to use a device as large as the Folio for taking pictures (the Galaxy Tab is more suitably sized for this).
Web browsing is provided by Opera Mini and, like the Galaxy Tab, comes with Adobe Flash support. This gives the Folio 100 an edge over the iPad in terms of web usability. You can easily read online content and the Folio also functions as an eReader with the inclusion of FBReader, allowing you to read all your favourite books on one device. The Folio has 16GB on-board storage and can also accept the insertion of microSD cards for added room. Additionally there is USB and Bluetooth, as well as Wi-Fi and an HDMI port. 3G will be introduced on a version to be released in early 2011.
Like the iPad the Folio 100 is perhaps a bit too large to be a truly portable device, and this is where the Galaxy Tab comes up trumps with its compact yet spacious screen. However, the Folio 100 would be an ideal device for the home and is, we feel, particularly suited towards watching videos. The non-3G version of the Folio should be set to be one of the more affordable tablets being released, expected to retail at about £329 in October.
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