Say hello to the upcoming “Touch Book” netbook by the folks at “Always Innovating” – certainly one of the more interesting and innovative netbook designs to come out in recent memory.
As I gave it away in the title of this blog posting, what makes the Touch Book so unique is its use of a detachable touch-screen display. No standard convertible notebook here – if you simply need the touch-screen display, simply remove it from the keyboard and carry it around separately. This means you can easily transform the Touch Book from a standard clamshell design to a thinner slate-styled Tablet system resulting in a lighter, comfortable, and enjoyable experience.
Powering the Touch Book on the inside is NOT an Atom processor bur rather a Texas Instruments OMAP3 processor (based on the ARM architecture). Why go ARM you ask? A longer battery life which translates to the ability to deliver an instant-on experience simply because there’s no need to turn off the system.
So how long of a battery life are we talking about here? According to Always Innovating, the Touch Book is capable of reaching 10 to 15 hours of battery life (assuming you use the device with the keyboard attached). The low-power processor is only part of the equation of course. There are other components which help the Touch Book achieve its incredible battery life. First off, the device leverages a flash drive for storage which requires less power than a typical hard drive (this also means you won’t get super large storage capacities on the device).
Yet perhaps what makes the most difference with the Touch Book is the inclusion of two batteries on the inside - one in the display portion and one in the keyboard portion of the netbook. If you were to strictly use the display portion of the netbook, you’d get approximately 3 to 5 hours of battery life. Tack on the keyboard and THAT’s when you get the 10 to 15 hours of power.
Since we’re talking about an ARM core on the inside, you won’t be seeing Windows XP installed on this system but rather Linux. Of course you’ll be able to install a number of other ARM compatible OS’s on this netbook.
The Touch Book specs are as follows:
- 9.4" x 7" x 1.4" for 2 lbs (with keyboard)
- ARM Texas Instruments OMAP3 chip
- 1024×600 8.9” screen
- Storage: 8GB micro SD card
- WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth connectivity
- 3-dimensional accelerometer
- Speakers, micro and headphone
- 6 USB 2.0 (3 internal, 2 external, 1 mini)
- 10h to 15 hours of battery life
All of this sounds great doesn’t it? How about the price you ask? It’s not too shabby either. If you only want the Tablet, you can purchase it for $299. Tack on the keyboard and the system will cost you $399. According to Wired.com, the Touch Book is expected to ship in the next few months.
If all of this is getting your heart pumping at a faster pace, then you might want to head over to the Always Innovating website and pre-order the unit.
[Check it out via Wired.com]
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