For quite some time now, it seemed that smartbooks and netbooks were going to dominate the mobile computing industry but over the last little while, tablet computers have certainly made their presence known. It’s not to say that smartbooks/netbooks haven’t carved out their own niche, but with the likes of the Apple iPad on the horizon, major tech companies don’t want to be left out in the cold and Toshiba is one of them.

Jeff Barney, Toshiba’s notebook lead confirmed that the computer maker plans on launching their line of tablet devices by the end of 2010 or no later then early 2011. The rationale provided was to have as early as possible an entry into this field of computing before powerhouses such as Apple dominate the niche with their iPad tablet.

It has proved to be a mistake to underestimate these new categories,” he said. “And besides, we need new category creation to grow our industry.

It’s worth noting that tablet computers are not new to Toshiba as they do have the Journe Touch which was launched in Europe late last year. However, it’s not likely that the Journe Touch will expand beyond Europe and the unit is looked at more as a mobile Internet device with a custom Windows CE operating system.

In terms of the new line of tablets, details are few but they are highly likely to run on the Windows 7 operating system though Android tablets are not out of the question.

Via: Geeky Gadgets, Ubergizmo