Toshiba Unveils Dual Touchscreen Netbook

Toshiba has released a laptop that comes with not one, but two touchscreens, that will allow users to generate content and browse the web at the same time.

The Libretto W100 is being touted as a “next-gen ultra-mobile concept PC” that comes loaded with Windows 7 (Home premium). It has two 7inch, LED-backlit touch-screens that work at 1024 x 600 resolution, which can used used either horizontally or vertically. The W100 also contains an 3D accelerometer so that the user can quickly change the screen orientations.

Two Better Than One?

The idea behind having two touch-screens, one in the usual location, and the other in place of the keyboard, means that the user should be able to enter content on one screen (Word docs, email etc), whilst using the other screen for web browsing – effectively the machine is two tablets in one, and a response to the success of the Apple iPad.

The virtual keyboard itself has six different layouts, including a split keyboard and haptic feedback (i.e. vibration feedback).

“The Libretto W100 continues the Libretto brand’s heritage of defying convention by packaging a full Windows computing experience into highly compact ultra-mobile form factor,” Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems Inc (Digital Products Division) is reported as saying.

Machine Specs

According to laptopmag, the device weights just 1.8-pounds (0.816 kg) and dimension wise measures just 7.95 inch (width) by 4.84 inches (depth) and 1.2 inches (height).

The machine itself will not have an Intel Atom processor, but instead features an “energy efficient” 1.2GHz Intel Pentium U5400 processor. It also has a 62GB solid-state drive (SSD), and 2GB of RAM. The standard battery promises a somewhat disappointing 2 hours, whereas the high-capacity battery offers 4 hours.

Other specs include a 1-megapixel HD webcam, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, a MicroSD card slot, and just one USB 2.0 port.

Toshiba have also added its own software to make the device responsive for touch-screen interaction. This includes an eReader app called Blio and Bulletin Board, which essentially allows the user easy access to a calender, frequently-used applications, and recently-opened documents.

The Libretto W100 is expected to arrive in August, with pricing expected to around the £742 ($1,100) mark. It is not clear at this stage whether this will include VAT, but if VAT needs to be added, then the W100 would effectively cost double the cheapest iPad and significantly more than the 64GB 3G iPad, which seems a strange decision by Toshiba.

That said, the W100 is closer to a proper laptop computer than the iPad, but it is unclear whether Toshiba will persist with the design in the long run.

“We will issue a limited run of the libretto W100,” said Toshiba’s Pinto. “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.”

Laptop makers are scrambling to produce tablet devices, since Apple sold two million of its iPad devices within two months, and is predicted to sell ten million in the first year. Analysts have predicted a tablet goldrush and stiff competition from Android tablets, with machines from Hewlett-Packard, as well as Samsung , an predictions that Microsoft will also enter the fray.

Toshiba’s use of solid state disk (SSD) is definitely a nod towards the future, as the iPad firmly adopted that technology.