At IFA 2014 in Berlin, Toshiba has shown off a 7-inch Windows 8.1
tablet that's heading to the UK with a £99 price tag.
Such a price for what is essentially a full version of Windows 8.1 crammed into a 7-inch tablet is a compelling -- and hitherto unheard of -- deal.
There are some caveats, of course: it's a low-end device. It's not aiming to replace an iPad, a snazzy Samsung Galaxy tablet or even a Windows PC -- it's to "complement" such devices.
Accordingly, the innards are predictably so-so, akin to what we used to call "netbook specs" before tablets became a big deal: an Intel Atom processor (Toshiba hasn't told us the speed but the model number used suggests it will be at least 1.3GHz), 1GB of RAM, a 1,024x600-pixel LCD display (170 ppi) and a 2-megapixel rear-facing camera with a 0.7-megapixel front-facing companion.
Storage? You're looking at microSD really, which is supported up to a 128GB capacity. Microsoft lets device manufacturers install Windows at zero cost to them or customers, but only on devices that fall below a certain hardware specification. Specifically that includes no more than 16GB of on-board storage, so don't expect any more than that when Toshiba's little tab hits shelves later this year.
On the up side it comes with Microsoft Office 365 Personal, which keeps you covered for documents and spreadsheets etc, plus 1TB of cloud storage from Microsoft. That's yours for a year and included in the price of the tablet, which is a bargain in itself given you can then access Office 365 on a desktop PC -- that's a £60 product normally.
In short it's an interesting product that's aggressively priced, but with a chance of disappointing certain people who think they're getting a £99 tablet that negates the need for a higher-performing model or a laptop. For Toshiba's sake, good marketing needs to come with a product like this and hopefully it will, because getting a pocket-sized Windows 8.1 machine for less than £100 is a smart little idea.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
