Toshiba Excite Android tablet coming in January

Toshiba's new Excite tablet will just miss the holiday season, reaching consumers sometime in January.

The Excite's product page on Toshiba Canada's Web site is promoting the new tablet as a holiday gift even though it won't arrive until sometime next month.

As the follow-up to Toshiba's 7-inch and 10-inch Thrive tablets, the Excite will offer a 10.1-inch 1280x800 LCD display with LED backlighting. Powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 1.2 gigahertz processor, the Excite will be equipped with Android 3.2 Honeycomb.

A 2-megapixel Webcam will face front, while a 5-megapixel camera will be on the back. Connections include a micro-SD card slot, a mini USB 2.0 port, and a micro HDMI port. And for networking, the usual Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth v2.1 will be included.

Also known as the AT200, the Excite will come in two versions--one with 16 gigabytes of storage and one with 32 GB.

Toshiba is also touting the Excite as "the thinnest, lightest tablet on the market today," most likely in contrast to the Thrive, which has been criticized for its heavy weight and bulky size.

Beyond these general specs, the site didn't reveal much else about the Excite. No clue on its price tag or whether the tablet will initially launch only in Canada or hit other markets as well. Toshiba's U.S. Web site made no mention of the Excite's availability, still focused on promoting the Thrive.

Toshiba did not immediately respond to CNET's request for further details.

But an early review in September by techieask.com said that the Excite offers surround sound speakers and eight to ten hours of battery life. The tablet is compatible with the latest version of Adobe Flash, integrates Twitter and Facebook, and provides access to Google's Android Market, Gmail, and Google Maps.