Touch Book Netbook + Tablet hybrid from Always Innovating

Posted on March 5th, 2009 by admin

The Touch Book from Always Innovating is a rather interesting netbook -

  1. It has a touch screen, and has a 3D interface.
  2. The keyboard can be detached from the screen and the screen can be used as a tablet.
  3. There are two batteries – one in the keyboard and one in the screen.
  4. It uses an ARM processor and combined with the two batteries it means 10-15 hrs of battery life.
  5. It also means no fans and the touch book is almost free of heat and noise.
  6. The Touch Book runs a flavor of Linux and you can replace it with other OSes like Android. However …
  7. It cannot run Mac OS X. It also cannot run XP and Vista as according to Always Innovating, Microsoft does not support ARM processors.
  8. It features 802.11 b/g/n WiFi connectivity and BlueTooth.
  9. It has a 3D accelerometer. I wonder whether they have applications focused around that.
  10. Also six USB ports including 1 miniUSB port and 3 internal USB ports.
  11. Starting price is expected to be $299, which seems rather low to me. Also expected to ship in April to May 2009.
  12. Weighs less than 2 pounds.
  13. Also, its magnetic and you can remove the keyboard and just attach it to your fridge.
  14. There will be two colors at launch – silver and red.
  15. There is a 8GB microSD card for storage that can be replaced with a larger card. This is a strange decision.

Touch Book in Netbook and Tablet Modes

First, with the keyboard -

TouchBook

Next, as a tablet -

TouchBookTablet

 

Touch Book Netbook + Tablet Ratings

These are preliminary and I’ll update them after the Touch Book is actually available -

  1. Power + Performance – Wait and See.
  2. Price – $299. A. A really good price if they can pull it off.
  3. Portability – A+. Excellent. If they really get 10-15 hrs and weight under 2 pounds.
  4. Looks – A-. Pretty unusual look. I wish there was some more pizzazz to the design.
  5. Usability – I. Have to see how the 3D touch interface works out.

Overall – To Be Updated.

Touch Book Netbook Technical Specifications

Here are the Touch Book’s tech specs -

  1. 9.4″ x 7″ x 1.4″ for 2 lbs (with keyboard)
  2. ARM Texas Instruments OMAP3 chip
  3. 1024×600 8.9” screen
  4. Storage: 8GB micro SD card
  5. Wifi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth
  6. 3-dimensional accelerometer
  7. Speakers, micro and headphone
  8. 6 USB 2.0 (3 internal, 2 external, 1 mini)
  9. 10 to 15 hours of battery life

Related posts:

  1. Archos Netbooks – Archos 10, Archos 10s, and 9″ MiniPC Tablet

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One Response to “Touch Book Netbook + Tablet hybrid from Always Innovating”

  1. Upcoming Netbook Related Launches, Netbook Release Dates | Acer Review, Asus Review - Netbook 10, on July 5th, 2009 at 1:32 pm Said:

    [...] Always Innovating TouchBook – half tablet netbook with a removable keyboard, can’t operate any Windows OS, very long battery life $300-$400, read our review [...]

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