If you’ve listened to PC Pro’s most recent podcast, you might have heard us fawning over Samsung’s latest tablet, the gloriously petite Galaxy Tab 7.7. Well, it seems Samsung isn’t the only manufacturer with a mini-sized slate on its mind, and Toshiba gave us a quick glimpse at a prototype model of its very own 7.7in tablet, the AT470.

Before you get too excited, however, there’s something we should tell you – the AT470 isn’t slated for release. Instead, we found it alongside a dummy model of an unusually large 13in tablet (yes, we did just say 13in) on a stand showcasing Toshiba’s tablet concepts.

If there’s anything right or good in this world, however, this little tablet deserves to see the light of day. Like a shrunken version of Toshiba’s already rather lovely AT200 10.1in tablet, the little AT470 partners a quad-core Tegra 3 processor with a  simply glorious screen. In fact, the most noteworthy aspect of the AT470 is the fact that it uses a Super-AMOLED panel, just like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.7. With the same combination of incredible brightness, great contrast and colours so saturated they look like they could literally drip from the screen, it’s a positively eye-pampering experience. And, with a resolution of 1,280 x 800, it’s super-sharp, too.

Just like its Samsung-branded peer, the AT470 feels great in the hand. The size and weight are spot on, and the Tegra 3 processor sees the tablet race through the installed OS  - Android 4.03, aka Ice Cream Sandwich - with impressive fluidity.

The dainty chassis doesn’t leave room for a huge amount of connectivity, but there’s nothing to complain about – the MicroSD card slot makes it easy to expand the tablet’s capacity if you’re running short; the usual MicroUSB socket covering the data transfer side of things.

Alas, while we’d happily spring the readies on such a dainty little device, Toshiba was keen to stress that this tablet is nothing more than a work-in-progress, and may never see the light of day. Still, if it doesn’t hide this particular model away under lock and key, it might just find it mysteriously disappearing into someone’s pocket – we can’t imagine whose.