Tablet tiff
Toshiba has confirmed to us that its tablet offering, the FOLIO 100, will be available by the end of November and cost just £329 for the non-3G version. However one of our tipsters (thanks again, Bunjiweb) informs us it has gone on sale at PC World and Curry's today, and is exclusive to them for three weeks.The firm said the 3G version will be released at a later date but no price has been confirmed.
The FOLIO 100 model is around the same size as an iPad at 10.1 inches but, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, it runs Android Froyo. It also shares features like Adobe Flash Player 10.1, 16GB memory, HDMI connector and front-facing camera with Samsung's tablet.
Although the Galaxy Tab has 3G, it is substantially more expensive at £529 (and has a smaller screen) than Toshiba's non-3G offering. In fact, as we wrote earlier, the Galaxy Tab is the same price as Apple's 16GB 3G iPad and it is thought it apparently costs less to make than the iconic Apple tablet.
Samsung could do with having a look at what else is out there as there are also plenty of other tablets cheaper even than the FOLIO 100, including Point of View's 10 inch effort running on Android 2.1, with a smaller 7 inch version said to cost £174.99 for a 16GB model.
Tech retailer PC World has jumped on the tablet bandwagon with two productsset to hit the shelves soon. The most impressive of the two is the Advent Vega, which will feature a 10.1inch touschscreen and a 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 Soc running Android 2.2, integrated webcam, built-in Wi-Fi and a claimed 10 hour battery life all for £250. Meanwhile a 7 inch model will make its debut for £129.99.
ViewSonic is also releasing a tablet that will dual boot with Windows and Android 1.6 at launch. The 10 inch tablet boasts a front facing camera but no 3G and is retailing for around £429. A smaller version, the Viewpad 7, which has a 7 inch screen will run Android Froyo and will include 3G connectivity for £399.
There's even a budget tablet by Elonex, available from Asda for £97. The cheap tablet has a 7 inch screen, ARM LNX Code 9 processor, 2GB memory, WI-Fi connection, rund Android 1.6 and claims 3 hours battery life.
Of course all these tablets have some work to do to steal some of Apple' tablet market share. Bloomberg reported that Apple has boosted its tablet market share to 95 percent in Q3, while despite a lot of new tablet launches running Android, Google's OS has actually lost some share, according to research from Strategy Analytics.
Global tablets sales have reportedly soared by 26 percent from the previous quarter to 4.4m units, with Apple shifting over 4.1m iPads. Meanwhile, Android's share of the market has slipped to 2.3 percent from 2.9 percent. However, the research firm apparently believes Android will get a boost upon the release of Samsung's Galaxy Tab, released this month.
Strategy Analytics Director Neil Mawston reportedly said: "The tablet wars are up and running," and Android and other operating platforms "are trailing in Apple's wake and they already have much ground to make up."
