Dell has already released 5 and 7 inch Android tablets and announced plans to bring 10 inch Windows and Android slates to market. But it looks like Dell has something else up its sleeve as well. Engadget received a series of photos showing a 7 inch tablet with a slide-out keyboard.
What’s interesting is that unlike the Asus Eee Pad Slider and Samsung Series 7, Dell’s slide-out keyboard doesn’t appear to fold in a way that would allow you to use the device like a laptop. Instead, you would hold it and type with our thumbs. Don’t relish the idea of reaching your thumbs all the way across a 7 inch screen? Dell’s already thought of that. The tablet has a split keyboard with half the keys on the left, the other half on the right and a big empty spot in the middle.
Engadget doesn’t have any other information about the hardware or software running on the tablet. We could be looking at a Windows 8 prototype, or it could be an Android tablet. It might have an Intel Atom chip or an ARM-based processor. Or it could just be a prototype that will never see the light of day. But it’s definitely something a little different from the other 7 and 10 inch tablets on the market right now.
I would suggest that after holding a 7″ inch device in hand you will be pleasantly surprised. Not to small and not to big. Always at hand. I’m also thinking that the Win8 recommanded resolution of 1366×768 goes over fairly well with this. An AMOLED screen is also a desirable option as a LCD screen is not going to be as useful in all lighting conditions.
Whatcha all think…, should we collectively get together and place some pressure on “DELL” to get it built..???
If it had a 5 inch screen and ran Windows 7 (or 8 on ARM), I’d buy it.
Traditional Windows doesn’t scale well for smaller screens. So would be better to wait for Windows 8, even the 7″ is a little small for traditional Windows. Especially if the device doesn’t have anything more precise than touch interface to click the icons with.
The split keyboard is good for a 7″ though…