Toshiba’s near absence here from netbook market will end this Friday with the introduction of new models in the UX line, according to an IDG news service story.

The  new models will be introduced in Japan Friday and will sport a 10.1 inch display, Intel’s new N280 processor, a 160GB hard drive and a four hour battery. Toshiba’s existing NB100 netbook had an 8.9 inch display and far less powerful innards. PCmag.com dissed the unit in its November review bearing the headline “Say no to this netbook.”

Pricing for the new unit in Japan is $600-$700 which well exceeds what consumers are paying for low-end notebooks here. Indeed, Toshiba itself sells five Satellite notebook models for under $600.

Plans for the new netbooks in the U.S. are not clear. Toshiba, which dominated the notebook computer market a decade ago, pays precious little attention to netbooks on the laptop section of its U.S. web site. That new line will likely change assuming the pricing is competitive.