Multitouch table specialist Ideum has outed its latest finger-friendly Surface SUR40 rivals, dramatically slimming the 55-inch video furniture while simultaneously boosting power. The Platform touch table is a mere 2-inches thick, sitting on a slender central stand while still offering a larger surface than the SUR40, while the Pro touch table is chunkier but considerably more powerful, with a user-expandable HP workstation in the base.
The Ideum Platform runs an Intel Core i7 2720QM 2.2GHz processor with 8GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB graphics. There are dual 256GB SSDs in RAID1 format, twin USB 2.0, twin HDMI (in/out), ethernet and a 3.5mm audio output, along with a pair of 10W speakers.
Meanwhile, the Ideum Pro uses its extra bulk to accommodate an Intel quadcore Core i7 2600 3.4GHz processor, with 8GB of RAM and NVIDIA Quadro 600 1GB professional graphics. It has dual 500GB RAID1 drives and the same connectivity, but steps up to twin 75W speakers.
Both use a Full HD screen with 500 cd/m2 brightness and recognition for over 40 simultaneous finger touches. Ideum offers various software tools for museums, businesses, schools and other clients to develop their own custom applications.
The must-have smartphone accessory of tomorrow might just be an unbreakable touchscreen epaper tablet, saving your eyes from squinting at a mobile display. Plastic Logic revealed its work-in-progress slate to us today, as SlashGear browsed the goodies in the company’s UK R&D center, confirming that talks with several manufacturers and carriers are ongoing to bring the companion device to market. Potentially bundled with your next smartphone could be a 10.7-inch super-light touchscreen pane for easier viewing of webpages, documents and more.
The concept behind the idea is straightforward: smartphones are incredibly capable, powerful devices, but in being portable they also demand a huge compromise on screen size. Even the Galaxy Note, with its 5.3-inch display, is considerably smaller than the average tablet, and that can make reading news, ebooks, presentations and other content frustratingly uncomfortable.
Plastic Logic’s idea is an ultra-thin companion device using one of its plastic-transistor based displays, paired with a wireless technology such as WiFi or Bluetooth, a battery, touchscreen, and a smartphone app – currently a hastily-cobbled-together Android app – that exchanges data between the two devices. With that app, users could squirt over emailed documents or webpages to the epaper, paging through using the onscreen controls. Alternatively, you can do the same thing with photos taken with the phone, which could be useful for those with partial-sight wanting to enlarge pages.
Although Plastic Logic bills its displays as flexible, in this context the company says its potential carrier partners are more focused on a rugged device: something that can be dropped into a bag or briefcase without concerns that the screen might crack. Rather than the Heath Robinson prototype, the final design is envisaged as a slim frame with a carry-handle on the top that would contain the electronics, battery and other components.
Battery life could be a real advantage over existing tablets. Since the Plastic Logic display only uses power when it changes the on-screen image, it’s far more frugal than a traditional LCD or OLED. That could mean 2-4 weeks use on a single charge, potentially, though final runtimes haven’t been confirmed.
In practice, use is a simple affair. The rudimentary app allows you to pick a file and share it to the display – in this prototype’s case, using a WiFi connection – and, after a couple of seconds, it blinks into life. Photos are shown full-screen and, while it’s currently monochrome and obviously lower resolution than a new iPad, it’s still easier to look at than a compact phone screen. As for multi-page documents, like PDFs, they can be paged through with a few stabs at the on-screen buttons, though there’s the usual blink-refresh we’re familiar with from other e-paper products. That should change if Plastic Logic uses one of its video-capable panels, which has a higher refresh rate.
The deciding factor is likely to be price: Plastic Logic and its partners would need to bring this in significantly lower than regular tablets, which could be a challenge given the $199 Nexus 7 announced yesterday. The company wouldn’t give us an estimate – it depends on who supplies the rest of the components and builds the slate, as well as how carriers decide to market it – but the idea of it being supplied as a freebie with a new phone was vaunted.
Microsoft is definitely thinking ahead when it comes to its Surface tablet. At a TechEd event held in Amsterdam today, the company has said that it believes tablet sales will overtake PCs within the next year. Antoine Leblond, vice president for Windows Web Services, spoke about how touch interfaces will become the dominant platform in the coming years, and that tablets will outsell traditional PCs for the first time.
“Touch is coming to PCs and that’s going to change the way UIs are designed very dramatically, just like the mouse did,” Leblond said at the event, going on to detail how Microsoft’s new Metro interface has been specifically optimized for touch operations. Still, the company won’t be shunning those keen to cling to laptops and PCs: “[Metro] works equally well on a desktop or a tablet.”
Microsoft introduced two Surface tablets at an event its event in Los Angeles, one based on the ARM architecture while the other runs on Intel’s low-voltage Ivy Bridge processor. The ARM version will be running Windows RT, while the Intel variant will run full blown Windows 8. The company was keen to point out the magnesium construction of the device along with the integrated kickstand, and impressed those in attendance with the introduction of a cover that doubles as a keyboard.
Manufacturing partners apparently aren’t quite as impressed. Details of the Surface tablet reportedly weren’t revealed to them until the last minute, with an executive at Acer believing the tablet is nothing more than an attempt to spark interest in Windows 8 tablets among OEMs. A report from an analyst has also detailed how Microsoft looked at OEM partners’ tablet lineups yet went ahead with the Surface announcement, something which is said to have changed the dynamics of the relationships between the company and its partners.
MSI’s sliding/folding touchscreen ultrabook, the Slider S20 unveiled at Computex earlier this month, will carry a hefty $799-$899 price tag when it launches according to the latest rumors. The Windows 8 hybrid, fronted by an 11.6-inch touchscreen, will drop in October or November, according to DigiTimes‘ sources.
MSI is yet to confirm final specifications for the convertible, though it’s known to use processors from Intel’s 3rd Gen Core range which pits it against Microsoft Surface Pro rather than the ARM-based Surface. That also means a full version of Windows 8 rather than Windows RT.
Connectivity, meanwhile, includes Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 3.0, along with wired ethernet and HDMI. Interestingly it seems MSI doesn’t think the S20 needs a trackpoint buried in the keyboard, instead seemingly relying solely on the touchscreen, though that could change by the time the laptop/tablet hits shelves.
There’s more on the MSI Slider S20 ultrabook in our hands-on from Computex.
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