Toshiba has reportedly abandoned its Windows 7-based tablet as well as its Chromebook plans. The two devices have disappeared from Toshiba's latest product roadmap, according to sources from the PC industry cited by DigiTimes.
Toshiba first showed off its Windows 7-based tablet at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2011. A month later, it was revealed that the Japanese company would release the 11.6-inch tablet running Windows 7 Home Premium and powered by Intel's Atom Oak Trail processor in the second half of this year. Now it looks like the model's launch schedule may have been delayed or cancelled completely.
Toshiba achieved lower-than-expected performance in 2010 for its smartbook products, which feature a similar industrial design as a netbook but adopt the Android operating system. As a result, the company is taking a conservative approach toward the newly formed market segment and thus has lost interest in pushing out a Chromebook. Google announced last week that the first two Chromebooks will be made by Acer and Samsung.
Toshiba still has an Android 3.0-based tablet, manufactured by Taiwan-based Pegatron Technology, on the way. It is expected to start shipping this month with an official launch in June. In fact, it already became available for preorder last week on J&R.
The 10-inch tablet is available with two internal storage capacities in Wi-Fi only configurations, a 8GB model is $449 and a 32GB model is $579. An earlier product listing from Newegg showed those two models alongside a 16GB model for $500. They'll all come with a dual core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, a 1,280 x 800 display, 2MP and 5MP front and rear cameras, Bluetooth 3.0+ connectivity, an SD memory card reader, HDMI and USB 2.0 support. A rather unique feature Toshiba is touting is the ability to swap batteries, unlike most other tablets. The back cover will also be removable and replaceable with other covers that Toshiba will sell in a variety of colors.
