Toshiba unveils Android-based Folio 100 tablet

Toshiba's Folio 100 is due in the fourth quarter

Toshiba has become the latest electronics firm at IFA 2010 to announce an iPad rival, with the launch of the Folio 100 tablet.

The €399 (£330) device has a 10.1in display, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1, and 16GB of storage. It is set to ship in the fourth quarter with a 3G version to follow, according to Toshiba.

Streaming movies and a digital book service will also be announced in the future, the firm said.

However, the Toshiba Marketplace already offers Music Place, which provides music, Radio Place, for online radio channels, and App Place, which has apps for download.

The Folio 100 can boot up in 30 seconds with its Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU and Android 2.2 operating system. It also has a 1.3-megapixel camera and a 1,024 x 600 resolution display. I/O ports include mini HDMI, USB and SD card reader.

The device weighs 780g, and has a claimed battery life of seven hours with normal use and a phone function that can be used for videoconferencing.

The Folio 100 supports Flash 10.1 and can output 1080p video. Opera, Toshiba media player, Fring and Documents to Go are preinstalled as standard.

Toshiba is likely to face stiff competition from the iPad and Samsung's much-anticipated Galaxy Tab set to ship in October.