Toshiba Unveils Dual-Screen Laptop, Long-Lasting Netbook
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Toshiba Libretto W100,
CREDIT: Toshiba |
Toshiba unveiled three new laptops today, and it's no surprise the dual-screen laptop and netbook that can go a week without charging definitely grabbed the most attention.
The Toshiba Libretto W100 is described as an "ultra-mobile PC" that fits somewhere between a tablet and a laptop. It has a second touchscreen where the keyboard is normally found. Aside from the two 7-inch multitouch displays, the specs are fairly unremarkable: 1.2 GHz Pentium U5400 processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 62GB storage, a USB port and a microSD slot.
The screens can be used in tandem; for instance, a Web page or document can be displayed across both screens. They can also be used separately to display different applications at once. The second touchscreen also provides the luxury of six different on-screen keyboard configurations to choose from.
The only problem with something that's not quite a tablet and not quite a notebook is knowing what exactly to use it for. It may be that Toshiba doesn't know either.
"We will issue a limited run of the libretto W100," said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division, in a statement. "We design our products around the way people actually want to use them, so getting this concept PC out into the hands of early technology adopters will allow us to gather invaluable feedback that we can filter into future product developments."
Toshiba decided to be a little unorthodox with its new netbook, too. The Toshiba AC100 is the company's first netbook to run on the Google Android operating system, version 2.1. It uses the NVIDIA Tegra 250 processor with 512MB of RAM and 8GB of memory. An SD card slot for expanded memory and a 1.3 megapixel webcam round out the specs.
While the specs aren't spectacular, the processor and operating system are efficient enough that it gives the AC100 8 hours of battery life, or a full week of battery life on standby mode.
The AC100 will include several difference connection options, including an HDMI port, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G.
The third laptop Toshiba announced, the Portege R700, is only unremarkable when compared with the Libretto W100 and AC100. In reality, it's actually an impressive machine with an Intel ULV Core processor and a full DVD drive packed into a 1-inch thick frame weighing 3lbs. Versions with the Core i7 processor and other upgrades will also be available.
The Portege R700 will be available June 27, starting at $900. The AC100 netbook will be available in August, and the Libretto W100 will be available "later this summer" from select retailers.
