The increasingly crowded netbook market is getting a new member today, with the announcement of Toshiba's first such product, the NB100. As most other netbooks, this 8.9-inch computer will be powered by Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor with up to 1GB of RAM. It will also follow Dell's lead and offer Ubuntu 8.04 preloaded, alongside the Windows XP version.


Other features include Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) and a 10/100 Ethernet port, integrated 0.3MP webcam, a generous 120GB hard disk drive, and three USB ports featuring Toshiba's Sleep-and-Charge technology that keeps charging USB devices when the netbook is in sleep mode. Toshiba has yet to confirm the battery size, though it claims the NB100 will run for three hours and 47 minutes.

The netbook is expected to be available next month in the U.K. for around £270 - no word on U.S. availability or pricing.