iPad-killer?
Toshiba's Thrive tablet isn't an especially well-kept secret, having already been leaked last month, but now its release date - and pricing when it becomes available - are official.
The 10in Honycomb-powered tablet will be available in the US in mid-July, with pre-orders starting from 13 June. The 8GB, 16GB and 32GB models will be priced at $429, $479 and $579 respectively. As well as offering a lower entry-level price than the iPad 2, the Thrive also undercuts the pricing of Apple's tablet at the 16GB and 32GB capacities by $20 - although Apple steals a slight advantage in offering a 64GB variant, which the Thrive lacks.
The Thrive will be Toshiba's first Tegra 2-based tablet, and offers such features as a 1,280 x 800 pixel IPS display, a full-size HDMI output and, of course, the latest version of Google's Android operating system designed especially for Tablets - version 3.1, codenamed Honeycomb.
The combination of these latest generation processor and operating system brings Toshiba's tablet line-up (previously comprised of the disappointing Tab range) in line with the BlackBerry PlayBook and Motorola Xoom. With little to differentiate the latest run of Android tablets - as their internal hardware and software is all but identical - it will be interesting to see how popular the Thrive proves in comparison to its contemporaries.
Toshiba hasn't announced its plans for bringing the Thrive to the UK as yet, but once the US launch is under is done and dusted, we'd expect to see a UK debut shortly thereafter.
