There may be almost unlimited hype and rumors about the impending Apple tablet (or tablets) but Toshiba is already showing a prototype to the press and may well beat Apple to market.

The prototype shown was of the JournE tablet computer, an up and coming idea at least in theory, that has received plenty of ink but little in the way of action until now. Finally, someone has shown something real, with Toshiba doing the honors at the IFA electronics show in Berlin, according to a NewsFactor story. The JournE prototype has an ARM processor, 1 GB of NAND flash memory, a seven-inch touch-screen, and runs Windows Embedded Compact (formerly Windows CE 6.0 Pro) for an operating system. Toshiba has written a custom interface for their product, which also features built-in WiFi.

At seven inches the JournE is not all that much larger than an iPhone or RIM Storm, though the size differential may be significant for many types of media. Toshiba says their new tablet comes with Internet Explorer 6 and is ready out of the box to access Picasa, YouTube, Flickr and to do instant messaging. The Journe will come with Windows Multimedia Player 9.0 for viewing photos and videos and for playing music.

Toshiba says that the JournE will sell for about US$350. There will be a charging cradle which sells separately, complete with USB and HDMI outputs. The cradle has a slot for a memory card and was said to be able to address up to 320 gigabytes of total memory. Toshiba is planning a fourth-quarter launch for the device, and will probably target Europe ahead of the US.

These very compact tablet computers (the JournE weighs less that 2 pounds) have the potential to give the netbook a run for its money. They are certainly sexier that netbooks, as well as smaller and easier to carry. Once the keyboard input issue is solved, tablets with screens between 7 and 12 inches could become popular as internet devices, as well as very versatile media machines. That sort of versatility in a very small package could become very popular very quickly.

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Entry was posted on Saturday, September 5th, 2009 at 3:08 pm under Uncategorized.

Read more entries by Michael W. Jones.
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