Toshiba JournE Touch

Toshiba are set to release an Android based tablet similar to the European counter-part called the JournE Touch. According to the general manager of digital products for the US division, Jeff Barney, these tablets will be branded as ‘slates’ and will also come with a number of OS choices, including Windows 7.

The bad news is that Android will only be used in the 10” model, which is pitted as a direct competitor to Apple’s iPad. I suppose the silver-lining here is that the Android device will float a lower price point than the more expensive Windows-based models which are likely to sport higher-end features such as dual displays.

According to Jeff Barney, Toshiba now see a ripe market for the tablet based PC. Really? Trust me when I say that you will not find any Apple fan boys around these parts, but this is an easy statement after we have all sat back and watched how the market reacted after Apple released the iPad,

“We definitely see a place for the slate, we see there’s a market there,” said Barney. “It’ll be expansive like netbooks, it won’t be cannibalistic.”

To be fair to Toshiba, the company does already have a similar device in Europe, but it runs Windows CE and has no third party applications. The American Android based offering will help address these fundamental issues. It is set to arrive in the last part of 2010 or early 2011.

[via Electronista]