Always Innovating Touch Book rotates, sticks to fridge, fails to slice or dice – Video

touch book fridge

The Always Innovating Touch Book has been shipping for a few days now. And while early reports indicate that the tablet/netbook has kind of lousy build uality and obviously beta software, there are a few things it apparently does right. And the company’s CEO has posted a few videos that show those features off.

While the first report I saw indicated that the included magnets were barely strong enough to hold the Touch Book to a file cabinet or refrigerator, it looks like the problem was that the user left the magnets inside the case. You’re supposed to take the magnet out and attach it to the back, at which point the tablet not only sticks to a fridge, but apparently you can open and close the door — and slam it, without knocking the tablet loose.

The machine also seems to have a decent accelerometer which rotates the screen when you rotate the device. This should make the Touch Book a halfway decent eBook reader, although it’s clearly a bit bigger and bulkier than dedicated eBook readers from Amazon, Sony, and Plastic Logic.

You can check out the new videos after the break.

via Gizmodo

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Wednesday, August 26th, 2009, 4:00 pm by Brad | Tags: , , , ,

Always Innovating Touch Book unboxed, stuck on a fridge

ai fridge

You know, netbooks are cool and all. They’re cheap; they’re portable. But you know what I really wish you could do with them? Stick them on the fridge next to grocery list and the kids’ artwork. Enter the Always Innovating Touch Book.

Not only does this netbook have a detachable keyboard which lets you use the machine as a touchscreen tablet, but the tablet also has strong magnets built into it which LiveJournal user Adric discovered lets you stick the Touch Book to your refrigerator!

As I mentioned yesterday, the Touch Book has begun shipping and we’re starting to see unboxing photos appear across the interwebs. Adric has posted a whole slew of photos including a closer look at the stylus, magnets, power supply, and the innards of the keyboard. When you remove the tablet from the keyboard you can open up the tablet in order to access several internal USB ports. This lets you add USB modules for additional storage, wireless connectivity, or other functions. You can check out an image of Touch Book with its top off after the break.

On the down side, Adric says the tablet is a bit heavy and that the keyboard doesn’t counterbalance the weight very well, which can cause the netbook to tip over easily. The machine is also a bit heavy for the included magnets, and eventually will slide down your refrigerator or file cabinet. But it’s still a pretty neat trick.

Meanwhile, Stephen Feger, who posted the first unboxing photos yesterday has a few more to show today.

Update: UMPC Portal has some more impressions. In general, it doesn’t look good. The hardware is reportedly pretty rough around the edges. You can read more about the Touch Book in the Liliputing Product Database.

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Thursday, August 20th, 2009, 9:07 am by Brad | Tags: , , , ,