Toshiba Excite 10 LE to launch March 6th, a day before iPad 3 event

[Corey]

Toshiba on Wednesday confirmed that its ultra-slim and light Android tablet, the Excite 10 LE, will be available on March 6th for $529, a day before Apple’s iPad 3 unveiling. The slate, originally called the Excite X10, was announced at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show and is equipped with a Gorilla Glass-covered 10.1-inch HD display with a dual-core TI OMAP 4430 processor clocked at 1.2GHz. The device also features 16GB of internal storage, a microSD slot, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, a 5-megapixel rear camera and Android 3.2 Honeycomb, with an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich promised to be coming in the spring. The Excite 10 LE is also “the world’s thinnest and lightest 10-inch tablet measuring just 0.3 inches (7.7mm) thin and weighing just 1.18 pounds (535g).” Toshiba’s press release follows below.

Toshiba Brings World’s Thinnest 10-Inch Tablet to U.S. Market

World’s Thinnest and Lightest 10-inch Tablet, Excite 10 LE, Available for Purchase on March 6, Starting at $529.99

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Toshiba’s Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced that the Excite™ 10 LE tablet will be available for purchase from select U.S. retailers on March 6. Previously introduced as the Excite X10, the Excite 10 LE is the world’s thinnest and lightest 10-inch tablet measuring just 0.3 inches (7.7mm) thin and weighing just 1.18 pounds (535g).

“We have engineered this tablet with premium materials and components, given it elegant yet durable styling and more connectivity options than any other tablet in its class, while fitting everything into an astonishingly thin and light design.”

The Excite 10 LE tablet, powered by Android™, carries a starting price of $529.99 MSRP2 for the 16GB model and $599.99 MSRP for the 32GB model.

“Excite 10 LE embodies what a luxury tablet should be,” said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. “We have engineered this tablet with premium materials and components, given it elegant yet durable styling and more connectivity options than any other tablet in its class, while fitting everything into an astonishingly thin and light design.”

A More Premium Design with All the Essentials

The thin and light Excite 10 LE features a vivid high-resolution 10.1-inch diagonal AutoBrite™ display3, delivering optimum browsing, reading and entertainment. Designed for durability and style, the device also features a high-quality magnesium alloy surface and scratch-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass display with an anti-smudge coating for greater resiliency.

The tablet also comes with an array of connectivity interfaces and ports on board, including micro-USB and HDMI® ports, a micro-SD slot to share content and files with other devices, plus Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® connectivity. Stereo speakers with exclusive sound enhancements by Toshiba and SRS® Labs deliver superior audio capabilities. Front and back HD cameras provide convenient photo capture, plus 1080p video recording and video chatting.

Smart Multicore Performance with Long Battery Life

Powered by the 1.2GHz Texas Instruments OMAP™ 4430 multicore mobile processor4 and dual-channel memory, the Excite 10 LE offers smooth web browsing and multitasking plus the performance for high definition video and entertainment. Extremely power efficient, the Excite 10 LE delivers up to 8 hours of battery life.

Powered by Android

The Excite 10 LE tablet features Android 3.2, Honeycomb, and will be upgraded to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich later this Spring. Also included is a full suite of familiar Google™ Mobile Service applications, including the Android Market™, YouTube™, Gmail™, Google Maps™, Music, Videos. Additionally, the tablet comes pre-loaded with a mix of Toshiba software and third-party applications including TOSHIBA App Place, TOSHIBA Book Place, TOSHIBA Media Player, TOSHIBA File Manager as well Netflix™ and Zinio™.

Docking and Accessories

Toshiba will also offer a suite of tablet accessories for the Excite 10 LE, including a docking station, multiple cases and more.

Specifications

• Android 3.2, Honeycomb (upgradeable to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich)

• 10.1-inch diagonal LED Backlit widescreen Corning Gorilla Glass display with IPS technology and 10-finger multi-touch support

• 1280 x 800 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio

• Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 multicore processor; 1.2GHz with 1GB LPDDR2 RAM

• 16GB and 32GB configurations6

• 2 megapixel front-facing camera

• 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash

• Micro USB, Micro HDMI ports

• Micro SD card slot

• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

• Gyroscope, Accelerometer, GPS, eCompass and Ambient Light Sensor

• Stereo speakers with sound enhancements by Toshiba and SRS Labs

• Built-in 25 watt-hour rechargeable lithium ion battery

• 10.1″ (W) x 6.9″ (D) x 0.3″ (H)

• 1.18 pounds (535g)

 

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