Toshiba Intros 7-Inch Thrive Tablet

By Doug Olenick -- TWICE, 9/27/2011

New York - Toshiba added a 7-inch version to its Thrive tablet PC line today.

Toshiba's Thrive 7 will ship in mid-November.

The Thrive 7 will ship in early December. Pricing has not been set, but it will be under $400 for the 16GB version.

The Thrive 7 Tablet is built for the on-the-go consumer, as opposed to the 10-inch model that is being used more in home, said Carrie Cowan, senior product marketing manager in Toshiba's digital products group.

The Thrive 7 will come in 16GB and 32GB versions and has basically the exact same functionality and performance as the 10-inch Thrive, Cowan.

The Thrive 7 runs on Android 3.2 Honeycomb, but will be upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich when it becomes available later this year, Cowan said. The device uses the same Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor as its larger sister and it has a 1,280 by 800 display.

There is a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, which is paired with a 5-megapixel camera on the back that now includes a flash.

The unit has Mini USB port and a MicroSD slot.

Cowan said the Thrive 7 tested very well with younger consumers, along with moms who appreciated the smaller size. She added that end users are still trying to figure out how to make the most of their tablet, with most still using it for basic web connectivity and are not fully utilizing its entertainment capability. However, she expects that to change as tablets become more prevalent.