Toshiba delays Regza AT300 Honeycomb tablet until end of summer

Molly McHugh
Toshiba's Android powered tablet

Toshiba executive Ken Chan told Reg Hardware that the manufacturer’s Regza AT300 tablet has been delayed. The 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet was supposed to hit U.K. shelves sometime during the second quarter, but Chan says a third quarter release is now more likely. “It’ll be here at the very end of the summer,” Chan claims. If you can’t remember what the Regza AT300 is, you’re probably not alone. Toshiba’s been taking its sweet time getting a competitive device into the tablet arena: Its first attempt, the Folio, didn’t prove to be an able iPad challenger. But the Regza AT300, which first debuted namelessly at CES, has gotten some good buzz and packs impressive specs. We got a look at it January when it was running Android 2.2 (Toshiba has always planned to release it as a Honeycomb device) and went hands-on with the tablet’s Nvidia Tegra 2 mobile processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 720p video playback, 1280×800 resolution, and 16:10 aspect ratio. The tablet also sports an interchangeable back, removable battery, HDMI, mini and full-size USB, SD, and analogue audio ports. The tablet might end up with a new name before its U.K./U.S. release, too: Engadget dug up a trademark filing from Toshiba indicating the tablet might be named the “Thrive,” which definitely has more of a ring to it and is a little more friendly to tech-novices out there. The reason for the delay is unknown, but Reg Hardware speculates that Toshiba could be waiting for Nvidia’s next-gen Tegra processors or experiencing fallout from the Japanese disaster. The latter seems pretty unlikely, seeing as the tablet just debuted in Japan last month (it’s retailing for about the equivalent of $723 U.S. dollars). While we’re wondering, maybe the delay has something to do with Android’s Honeycomb 3.1 or Ice Cream Sandwich release, which Google said would translate to tablets as well. Either way, we’ve got a few more months to wait.