Dual-Screen Toshiba libretto W100

Just in time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the company’s first modern laptop, Toshiba has unveiled a new version of its once-forgotten libretto notebook line, the W100. Formerly comprised of small ultraportable “subnotebooks” that touted full versions of the Windows operating systems, the libretto brand is back with the W100. In fact, this will be the first clamshell tablet with two 7-inch multitouch screens made available to consumers. Yup. Unlike previous dual-touchscreen tablets from MSI and OLPC, this one could be yours very soon (Read our Q&A with Toshiba about this potential watershed device). The question is, at $1,100, whether this Windows 7 device is worth more than double the price of an entry-level iPad. The W100 weighs an airy 1.8-pounds and sports two 7-inch multitouch displays (1024 x 600 resolution). The specs include an Intel ultra-voltage processor (no Atom here), a 62GB solid-state drive, 2GB of RAM, and Windows 7 Home Premium. You’ll also find a tiny 1-megapixel HD webcam, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a microSD card slot, one USB 2.0 port, and an 8-cell battery. Sadly, there’s no talk of mobile broadband or any 3G connectivity whatsoever. The libretto W100 packs in a range of software that’s designed to hide Windows 7 touch deficiencies, including an eReader app called Blio and Bulletin Board. Just as you’d use a cork board, this Toshiba program is designed as a one-stop portal to a calender, recently-opened documents and pictures, and frequently-used applications. The W100 also contains an accelerometer to change screen orientations quickly. Remarkably, for touchscreen typing, Toshiba created six haptic keyboards: a standard full QWERTY keyboard with the function, numeric, and punctuation keys; a simplified QWERTY arrangement with fewer–but larger–buttons; two split-thumb keyboards for use with both hands; a cell phone-like alphanumeric keypad; and a numbers-only option. The libretto W100 we played with wasn’t final and its software was buggy. The fan was also quite loud. However, we expect that Toshiba will refine this dual-screen device before it hits shelves later this summer in limited quantities. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the gallery and hands-on video below. Toshiba libretto W100 Specs: * Dual 7.0-inch diagonal multi-touch displays7 (1024 x 600) * 6-mode virtual keyboard with haptic response * Windows® 7 Home Premium operating system * Intel® Pentium® U5400 processor1 (1.2GHz) * 2GB DDR3 memory2 * 62GB Solid State Drive3 * 1.0 megapixel HD Webcam with Toshiba Face Recognition * 802.11 b/g/n wireless4 * Bluetooth 2.1+EDR5 * MicroSD card slot * One USB 2.0 port * TOSHIBA Bulletin Board, ReelTime™ and PC Health Monitor software * 8-cell battery * 7.95” (W) x 4.84”(D) x 1.2”(H) * 1.8 lbs.

Android vs iPhone

With the announcement of the iPhone 4G, many people are wondering if they should hold out for the iPhone 4G or if they should make the switch to Android. The current line of Android phones has given Apple a run for their money. Below are a list of features that currently set the Android apart from the current iPhone operating system. 1. Tethering Because of the openness of applications that are available on the Android platform, users can download various applications that provide the ability to tether. This makes it possible to use your mobile phone as connection to the internet should you be somewhere where there is no freely available wifi. There are options that are available for tethering the iPhone, however, most require that you unlock your phone which voids the warranty and restricts updates. 3. It plays Flash Although the flash support for Android has been reported to be sub-par, it exists, which is more then what the iPhone has. Currently flash is not available on the iPhone, and it does not look like that is a trend that is going to change. 4. It has open apps The Android has open applications which means, unlike Apple, anyone can release an application despite the targeted audience or purpose. Although Android has an app-store developer can release their applications independently. 5. It multitasks From the beginning the Android platform allowed for multitasking. Although it has been announced that the iPhone 4G operating system will have multitasking, current versions of operating system restrict running multiple applications at once. 6. Carrier choice The Android has surpassed the iPhone in the US market-share, and much of this can be attributed to the fact that Android is available on multiple devices and among the top selling phones with in all the top carriers. Even AT&T now has an Android phone. The sad fact is that the Apple iPhone is only available on AT&T.

Microsoft extends XP for Windows 7 users

Windows XP arguably has been one of the most efficient and popular operating systems by Microsoft. Windows Vista was a let down after which Windows 7 has been quite a hit. Now Microsoft has once again extended the support to Win XP. Microsoft has announced that users running some of the editions of Win 7 would be allowed to downgrade to Win XP for another 10 years that is till 2020. According to the release users running Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate will now be able to `downgrade’ to Windows XP Professional up to the year 2020 (Windows 7’s entire lifecycle). Microsoft seess this as a means to maintain consistency for downgrade rights throughout the Windows 7 lifecycle. Thus, OEM versions of Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate will continue to include downgrade rights to the similar versions of Windows Vista or Windows XP Professional. Downgrade rights primarily allow users to replace a newer version of Windows with an older edition without paying for two copies. Micrososft has always followe a policy of terminating downgrade rights within months of introducing a new OS but ut has taken exception with Windows XP. This is the second extension for Windows XP downgrade rights. Earlier the downgrade was limited to within 6 months of release of Won 7. It had then increase the rights period to 18 months from the release. Ironically the company has dropped support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).