New Netbook Offers Detachable Tablet 209
Engadget is reporting that a new "Touch Book" being previewed at DEMO '09 in California by the company "Always Innovating" promises a new take on mobile computing devices. Touting 10 to 15 hours of battery life, this ARM-powered netbook weighs less than two pounds, but the true magic comes with the detachable screen that can function as a completely stand-alone touchscreen tablet. The machine is currently running a Linux OS with a touchable 3D UI, the entire screen is magnetic for mounting on a metal surface, and the whole package is being projected for less than $300.
Re:ARM Netbook (Score:2, Interesting)
Lots of ARM netbooks [google.com] out there. It's an obvious market (because of ARM's low power requirements), and a big reason so many netbooks run Linux rather than Windows. Though I suspect serious ARM zealots wish they ran RISC OS!
I'm more intrigued by the use of Linux in a touch screen device. I have a tablet that runs Windows Vista solely because it's the only x86 OS with serious handwriting recognition. I thoroughly despise Vista (nobody despises Vista as much as somebody who's stuck with it) and I'd look very hard at any alternative that seriously exploits the tablet model.
Re:Removable Keyboard, not Screen? (Score:5, Interesting)
What keeps it from tipping over? (Score:3, Interesting)
What is in the keyboard? extra port connectors? a dvd players? Obviously it's not the batteries or anything actually required to run.
but it has to be heavy enough not to tip over. Since the batteries are in the screen, the base must be filled with lead?
In fact forget the keyboard. (Score:3, Interesting)
I haven't been interested in any of the existing netbooks, because I can't stand typing on the small keyboards. But I would be interested in an inexpensive tablet, if the linux build they provided was customized to work well as a tablet. I hope they have a configuration option that includes a normal dock in place of the keyboard.