Toshiba is well known for its notebooks, so it's no surprise seeing it announce its AC100 smartbook for release in the local market in October this year.
Designed to look the way netbooks wish they could - super slim, yet still sexy - the AC100 still runs similar, low-voltage hardware. In this case, the silicon inside this lightweight is Nvidia's Tegra 250 system-on-a-chip. Despite being an all-in-one solution, this dual-core 1GHz setup still allows for full HD video decoding on its 10-inch display.
Connectivity is taken care of by 802.11n wireless and Bluetooth 2.1, while the omission of an Ethernet port drives home that this is designed to be a mobile warrior. Backing that up even more is the fantastic (claimed) battery life.
Tosh boffins say it'll last up to eight hours in normal, continuous use, or go seven days between charges. The latter is based on the same usage model as a phone: take it out, open the lid and have instant access to documents or the Internet. Resume, from standby, will take less than a second. When you're done, close the lid, slip it into your briefcase and off you go. At less than 900 grams, it'll hardly be a huge burden.
Unlike netbooks we've played with before, running either Windows or Linux, the AC100 is loaded with Google's Android operating system. Designed to run on smart mobile devices, not just touch phones, it'll be interesting to see if its use in a laptop-type device will make it as appealing. Access to the Android Marketplace would be a great boon - instant software for your mobile computer.
One great feature we'll look forward to testing are the location-aware home screens. Toshiba says up to five home screens can be configured to change according to the wireless network the user is connected to. Facebook and Twitter for the home network, or live stocks and business e-mail for the office network. Handy!
Expect to pick one up in October, for R4 999.
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