Toshiba SmartPad Tablet Previewed In Leaked Press Shots

Images apparently showing Toshiba's upcoming SmartPad tablet have leaked ahead of the slate's official debut.  The shots, caught by NotebookItalia, show a similar design to that barely glimpsed back in July, and will likely earn the SmartPad (as the slate is tipped to be called) much comparison to the iPad.  According to earlier leaks, the Toshiba tablet will run Android on an NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, with a 10-inch touchscreen display.

The new shots do indeed show Android-style touch sensitive buttons running down the bezel – for search, back, home and what's likely menu – together with a front-facing webcam and stereo speakers at the bottom.  Ports, meanwhile, include some sort of docking station connector on the bottom, together with power, 3.5mm audio, HDMI, USB, mini-USB and a memory card reader on the side, some of which are covered by a flap.

However, there could still be a Windows 7 version of the Toshiba slate, which Steve Ballmer suggested was on the cards back in July.  Toshiba's managing director for Australia previously said the Toshiba SmartPad would arrive by October 2010, though didn't go so far as to confirm pricing.