Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it will start marketing its iPad-rivaling Folio 100 touch-display tablet in Europe, the Middle East and Africa between October and December.
Like Apple Inc.'s iPad, the Folio 100 has a wide range of online functions, including music downloads and storage, and doubles as an e-book reader.
Toshiba is also considering marketing the product in Japan and the United States, but the timing of its release in the two markets has yet to be decided, the consumer electronics manufacturer said.
Toshiba is keen on competing with Apple, which released the iPad in April and enjoyed instant success, as a growing number of electronics companies are gearing up to enter the market of multifunction tablet computers, analysts said.
The Folio 100, which measures 28 cm long, 18 cm wide and 1.4 cm thick, runs on the quick-booting Android operating system developed by Google Inc. of the United States.
The new 760-gram tablet can store music and pictures on an SD memory card. The suggested retail price in Europe will be 399 euro, or roughly ¥43,000, the company added.