Update:
www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/info.htm
Initial Shipment Expected July 2009
If you are in the market for a highly portable second computer, good news! We intend to start shipping the Touch Book next month, in July 2009. Our first batch of Touch Books is already in production. Check out photos of the very first unit below and stay tuned for the precise shipping date.
Click here to see the gallery!
If you have already pre-ordered, you will receive an email message with more detailed information before your order is processed. We appreciate both your patience and your business!
Note on the First Batch: Beta Software
We are very excited to have nearly finalized the Touch Book hardware. As you know, we are at the cutting edge of innovation with a new processor, a new architecture, a new design and new applications. The Touch Book Operating System will continue to be a work-in-progress over the next few months. As beta software (and not beta à la Google News), you should not expect a flawless experience by July. But don't worry, we will be here to provide support, and we intend to push frequent updates so as to continue improving the user experience. With your feedback, we will be able to test, refine, and prepare for a final software release later this year.
Moreover, we will offer the choice of operating systems backed by partners, which are heavily invested on the hardware platform the Touch Book is based on. The Touch Book is built to last!
Is the Touch Book right for you?
There are so many choices available if you are looking to compute on-the-go, it can be very confusing trying to find the right device. If you are looking for a highly portable second computer with a long battery life and the flexibility to serve as both a netbook computer and a touch-screen tablet, the Touch Book might be for you. But if you are looking for a laptop that can serve as your primary computer and hope to use heavy-processing applications such as photo and video editing, you might be better served elsewhere.
If you are a hard core Apple aficionado, you are welcome to wait and see if Apple decides to release a media tablet. Bear in mind that it is likely to be expensive ($700?), proprietary, non-modifiable, linked-to-iTunes only, and lacks a keyboard. But it will certainly be very polished. Anyway, there are many ways to "think different".
We don't really do Windows
While we admire Microsoft’s staying power in the industry, they lost their innovative edge many years ago. In the mean time, Linux and the open source community have made tremendous progress to offer an innovative and user-friendly desktop experience. The Touch Book is picking up this trend and comes with our own Linux-optimized system. Over time in 2009, we plan to support other Linux-based alternatives such as Google Android or interesting projects such as Moblin. As for Windows, XP cannot work on our platform by design — don't expect a native Photoshop on the Touch Book. Only Windows CE can make the cut, and Windows 7 is uncertain for the moment.
International orders accepted
We have received so many requests from around the world, we have decided to start accepting orders from Canada, Europe, and a few other countries. Please be aware that there are a few restrictions: we are shipping the US version so you should expect both a US plug as well as a US Qwerty keyboard. Nevertheless, the power adapter supports 100-240V, has the FCC, UL and CE certifications, and in the limit of available stock, we will try to accommodate, free of charge, a plug adapter. Last, you will receive a special discount for a keyboard replacement (not the Touch Book keyboard part, just the keyboard itself) if and when your language is made available.
Hardware specifications
We are publishing the final specifications and we are glad to say that we are extremely close from what we initially announced back in March:
* Texas Instruments OMAP3530 with Micron 256MB (RAM) + 256MB (NAND) Memory
* 8.9 inches 1024x600 A+ screen
* Main storage: 8GB SD card — we decided to change from Micro SD to standard SD, so that you can easily upgrade it
* Internal USB wifi 802.11 b/g/n powered by a Ralink 3070 chipset
* Internal USB bluetooth class 2.1
* FCC, CE, UL-certified, 5V, 3.5A power adapter
* 8.9 inches pressure sensitive touch screen
* US Qwerty 24cm-large keyboard — around 95% of the size of a standard keyboard
* Cirque Touchpad
* Two Owolff high-quality internal stereo speakers
* 3D accelerometer
* Two internal batteries 6000 and 12000 mAh — it can be replaced with a screw driver
* 7 USB ports: three external, four internal, three of them may be reserved for wifi, bluetooth and keyboard
* Bi-color silver/black case — see photos — with a beautiful dark-red back cover (we decided to go only for red for the first batch as it really jumps out, you won't regret it).
* Secured attachment system of tablet into keyboard
* Independent magnet system for the tablet — we don't want your Touch Book to un-magnetize all your credit cards while carrying it in your bag!
Pricing, warranties and returns
Pricing has not changed: $299 (USD) for tablet, $399 (USD) with keyboard. You may read the limited warranty here (one year except for some special parts). There is a 15-day money back guarantee if the device is returned with all its original parts and in its original condition, otherwise a restocking fee may apply.
Software beta and roadmap
In July, the default beta Touch Book OS will include:
* Linux 2.6.29 with all the required drivers
* Xfce 4.4 desktop environment
* A unique 3D interface for starting applications with your finger
* Firefox 3.0 and Fennec beta 2
* Youtube and daily motion support
* A video and music player
* Abiword and Gnumeric
* A PDF reader, evince
* A chat manager, Pidgin
* Mypaint 5.1
* An e-book reader, Fbreader
* A printer manager, Cups
* All usual accessories (zip, picture viewer, dictionary...)
* Support for most standard USB accessories
* Java support
The software roadmap towards release 1.0 will include the following:
* Upgrade to the latest of all the applications already mentioned
* Skype compatible application
* OpenOffice 3.1
* A full Adobe Flash solution
* Recognition of the Touch Book by iTunes to synchronize your music and video
* A Google-maps-based application with GPS support (GPS USB not included)
* Some 3D accelerometer-based iPhone games
Also, we will also offer or give strong support for a Google Android image.
Reviewers
Due to the limited size of the first batch, and because of the tough economic times, we want to reserve the first Touch Books to our paid pre-customers. Nevertheless, we expect to quickly have a set of units available for review. If you have already submitted a request, you will be notified as soon as available. Otherwise, you can send an email to
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Open Source
Always Innovating believes that open hardware will stand out in the coming years as open software has done recently. Based on the Beagleboard project, we are providing the design of the Touch Book to parties that show strong commitment to the open source movement. Please following this link for more information.
