By Clint Boulton, eWeek
At last year’s Consumer Electronics Show here, Toshiba piqued attendees’ curiosity by showing off a prototype tablet with a rubberized back and removable battery. That reference device evolved into the Toshiba Thrive, a 10.1-inch Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet. Launched in the summer of 2011 at more than half an inch thick and 1.6 pounds, the Thrive was targeted at enterprise users, offering ports for USB 2.0, High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) cables and an SD card. Toshiba launched a 7-inch model in the fall that wasn’t much different from the original model. At CES 2012, eWEEK took a tour with Duc Dang, senior manager of product development for Toshiba, to view four tablets encased in plastic cubes. What you’ll immediately see in these prototypes is that Toshiba has shed the clunky, easy-grip frame and extra weight that turned off fans of thin, lightweight tablets such as the Apple iPad 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab lineup. Now, all are fitted with lightweight magnesium alloy casings.
Share on Facebook