Toshiba Android & Dual-Screen Windows Tablets Coming

Toshiba have thrown their hat into the tablet ring, promising their own iPad rival and to use Google's open-source Android platform for at least one such device.  According to Jeff Barney, general manager of digital products for Toshiba America, the company are looking at slate form-factor devices with various screen and OS options; one such example is a "dual-screen model running Windows" while another has a single 10-inch display.

Prices and specifications, Barney says, will vary, but the idea will be to broaden Toshiba's appeal rather than to eat into their laptop sales.  "We definitely see a place for the slate, we see there's a market there" he says, "it'll be expansive like netbooks, it won't be cannibalistic ... Media consumption on these slates will be the main user activity."

The Android-based tablet would, unsurprisingly, have a cheaper entry point, while the Windows-based dual-display version will be more expensive.  While Toshiba themselves don't suggest as such, the latter sounds surprisingly like the Microsoft Courier tablet concept we've seen leaked regularly over the past few months.

[Thanks Paul!]