Toshiba to release iPad style slate PC

Asavin Wattanajantra

Toshiba has announced that it will to bring out iPad style tablet devices to the market running on both Android and Windows 7.

According to Reuters, the company plans to launch slate PCs this year.

According to Jeff Barney, general manager of digital products for Toshiba America, the company is looking at a variety of form factors, including a dual-screen Windows running model and one with a 10-inch screen. An Android device would be cheaper than a Windows based model, Barney said.

He said: “We definitely see a place for the slate, we see there's a market there. It'll be expansive like netbooks, it won't be cannibalistic. Media consumption on these slates will be the main user activity.”

Like how the iPad can already take advantage of the thousands of apps used on the iPhone, an Android-based device could run the many apps already used in the Android market.

Toshiba already has a history with tablets, but more to do with business-style convertible laptops that use a stylus and where a user would write on surface.

It obviously sees the market for the new style of tablet now popularised by Apple as being a good area for growth. HP is one of the companies already confirmed to be release a tablet device in the HP Slate.