Toshiba Unveils What To Come on Laptops
Microsoft had a prototype project called Courier, that featured a dual pane touch-screen device along with the new OS interface and a wonderful video demo. Courier had stirred up some enthusiastic reception, unfortunately Microsoft killed the project.
But Courier fans might rejoice learning that Toshiba, the prominent laptop manufacturer marked its 25th birthday of its notebooks by introducing the Libretto W100, a new Windows 7 laptop form factor with dual pane 7” touch screen. Both screens can display an entire document (the included accelerometer rotates the screen automatically depending its position), 2 separate windows or even one can have a soft keyboard to mimic a regular laptop.
The heart of the device is the 1.2GHz Pentium US400 CPU; 2GB RAM, 62GB SSD, 801.11n WiFi (without Cellular radio); HD Webcam with Toshiba face recognition software, etc.. . On the software side is Microsoft Windows 7 Home Edition and few additional touch enable features from Toshiba to navigate the dual screen . The software and hardware specs make the device more similar to a laptop than a netbook.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQHWfji5zZY[/youtube]
Video link
The concept seems to address a user segment that still wants the familiar Windows functionalities with the versatility of a small form factor device, however the Windows 7 touch interface has not won many hearts and the additional touchscreen could worsen the battery life and especially could raise the cost to high to be competitive.
Toshiba also reveals the A665 3D laptop, a more traditional form factor laptop equipped with 15.6” 3D capable display, designed specifically for immersive gaming or 3D movie watching (3D Blu-ray drive included). The 3D viewing requires special active glasses.
The W100 will cost $1099 and the A665 price starting from $1600 when they become available.
[Source Toshiba via Electronista]
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