TouchscreenTablet
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Freescale's 7-inch tablet runs Android, Chromium OS or Linux, costs $200 (video)
Remember the $200 smartbook reference design that we saw at CES this year? Well, it's back, it's holding on to that same price and 7-inch enclosure, but this time it's also showing off an expanded OS compatibility. Adapting the open source Chromium OS and another Linux variant to the ARM architecture of the prototype device was apparently not much of a hurdle for Freescale, who has an Android option in the works as well and claims to be just optimizing and enhancing the user experience at this point. Presumably one of the enhancements will be the installation of a capacitive touchscreen as the present demonstration requires either a mouse and keyboard or a resistive torture test to operate, but we'll accept the company's explanation that this is just a proof of concept and not the final product. Slide past the break to see some HTML5 video running on this bargain bin tablet, and hope that your friendly neighborhood OEM picks these designs up for some retail action.
Apple launching 22-inch touchscreen iMac this year?
Sure, those new Core i7, 27-inch iMacs are lovely things (when they're working), but there's something missing: the sense of touch. That's coming soon, according to a report published in the Chinese Commercial Times. The new 22-inch model is said to slot in between current 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs, will use a capacitive touchscreen provided by Sintek Photronic, and unsurprisingly will be built by Quanta. Beyond that, and a supposed release before the end of the year, we know nothing -- but maybe we'll learn more at a certain press event next week?
Princeton follows Shuttle's minimalist lead with 19-inch touchscreen
Shuttle may have been the first out of the gate with this minimalist design (presumably OEM, and likely only a sign of things to come), but that's not keeping Princeton from doing its own thing with its new PTB-TMW19B tablet display, which just got official for Japan today. While the exterior's identical to the Shuttle, the Princeton model takes a slight dip in resolution to 1440 x 900, although the company makes up for that somewhat by including a stylus and some handwriting recognition software. Otherwise, you can expect a 5 ms response time, an 850: 1 contrast ratio, and even a pair of built-in speakers. Look for this one to set you back ¥128,000 (or just under $1,200) when it hits Japan later this month.
