Toshiba Journe Touch

Toshiba's Journe Touch tablet doesn't yet have an Apple opponent to battle, but it's ready.

Here come the tablets. Apple hasn’t yet revealed a shred of detail on the alleged “iPad” tablet that’s been generating rumors for months, but other companies are already starting to roll out potential competitors. Toshiba showed up early to the party on Wednesday with the announcement of its Journe Touch, a mobile Internet device that will also pull some clever media tricks, like playing HD video.

Much like the Archos 7, the Journe uses a 7-inch, 800-by-480-pixel touch screen to fit into a handheld form factor. It runs a version of Windows CE 6.0 that has been tailored to perform both traditional PMP duties, like playing music and video, as well as tasks that leverage its larger screen, like mobile Internet browsing, viewing photos, and reading RSS feeds.

But the real differentiator lies in its USB cradle, which allows the Journe Touch to dock and connect up to a high-def TV via an HDMI cable. Toshiba hasn’t yet detailed whether it will play full 1080p HD or just 720p, but the relatively weak ARM processor inside suggests the smaller of the two. One major caveat: The device will only come with 1GB of internal storage, making the SD media card slot essential for carrying much content at all. It maxes out at 32GB capacity.

According to the UK’s Mirror News, Toshiba also plans to develop an app store for the device, opening it up to third-party developers. Preloaded applications at launch will include Picasa, YouTube, Facebook and Flickr.

Toshiba will launch the Journe Touch in the fourth quarter of 2009, with a price tag of €250 (about $350 USD). More details can be found at Toshiba UK.