We’ve been talking a bit recently on the influx of new manufacturers entering the mobile market via tablets and how this could be exactly what was needed to shake things up a bit. While it’s true that Toshiba has released a couple of its own tablets in previous generations, we’d still consider them one of the less-traditional OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) when it comes to mobile devices.
Already granting some of our hopes and dreams is Toshiba’s recently announced working-titled ATT330 tablet. The ATT330 for the most part is a fairly straight-forward Android tablet. It features Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) as its operating system (OS), a 5MP rear camera with 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, an HDMI port and expandable memory.
What is not standard about the ATT330 is the large 13.3 inch display and built-in TV tuner. That’s right, this tablet is capable of picking up network television and displaying it on its screen. This is such a wonderfully simplistic idea that we’re scratching our heads wondering why noone’s ever done it before.
The tablet was shown off at the Toshiba World 2012 conference in Bonn and first reported on by German site Techfokus. Unfortunately no mention of availability and pricing were made.
We can see a lot of so-far tablet-wary folks pricking up their ears at a device like this. Not only does one get all the standard high-powered tablet trimmings, but it seconds as a portable TV wherever you go. That means 3rd party media content wherever you go, without using up your data plan or even requiring an active internet connection. It almost sounds like some kind of dark sorcery in today's gadget world.
The only real issues we can think of are:
- The current model has a long and ungainly antenna sticking out the side for reception. It folds away when not in use, but it looks pretty silly and definitely takes away some of the device’s lustre.
- We have no idea what kind of affect receiving TV signals will have on battery life.
- The 13.3 inch screen may prove a little large. Tablets are already often a bit too big to carry around easily, upgrading from 10 inches to 13 could be all it takes to make it not quite worth it as a portable gadget for daily use.
We still love the idea though. Not only would this kind of thing be useful when you’re out and about, but at home too. You can take your TV outside and watch it amongst nature, you won’t have to switch channels and annoy your family every time you want to check the score of a game and if you and another member of your household have conflicting shows one of you can just grab the tablet.
We’re super eager to check out the Toshiba ATT330. We don’t expect it for some time yet and there’s been no indication of where and when it will even be available. But we will definitely keep our eye out for more news and do our best to keep you posted.
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