Toshiba Plans Tablet Family by 2011

With the Apple iPad announcement as the turning point, media tablets have finally managed to carve out their own niche. However, the fact remains that tablet-like devices have existed for some time, although they have been mostly aimed at the industrial sectors. The iPad announcement, and the other products that have surfaced since then, mark only the establishment of the market for consumer-oriented slates. While HP has already shown a couple of video demonstrations of its device, the competition should get even more intense with the addition of Toshiba's own slate family.

While the iPad may have been launched with a price lower than what mobile-computer makers expected, it is also a fact that the tablet device lacks a number of features, some of which are seen as rather important, or made out as such, by Apple's rivals. The main two elements that the iPad lacks and that others, particularly HP, plan to exploit are multitasking and support for Adobe Flash.

While HP has already revealed plans to soon introduce its own slate, it appears that Toshiba also aims to make its own foray into this segment, albeit somewhat later. According to a report by Fortune, the company will have its own slate family by this time next year.

"It has proved to be a mistake to underestimate these new categories," Jeff Barney, head of Toshiba's U.S. notebook business, says, Fortune reports. "And besides, we need new category creation to grow our industry."

Of course, regardless of the device's functionality, the marketing performance of tablets will depend greatly on content availability. Apple already has a wealth of apps for the iPad, whereas ASUS, HP and Toshiba do not, at least at this time. As such, whether 2010 succeeds or falls short of becoming the year of the tablet still remains to be seen.