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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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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The Always Innovating Touch Book has begun shipping, and a small number of people have already managed to get their hands on this unique machine which is something of a cross between a netbook and a tablet-style UMPC. Stephen Feger got one today and has been posting his first impressions on Twitter. And jkkmobile has published a few photos, including the one you can see above.

There are a few things that make the Touch Book different from any other netbook on the market. First, the computer is primarily crammed into the 8.9 inch touchscreen display. If you don’t want a keyboard, you don’t have to buy one. You can pick up the tablet for $299. For $399 you get the tablet plus the base station which includes a keyboard and touchpad.

Second, the machine uses a TI OMAP3530 processor, which helps keep the power consumption down, but which isn’t going to win any awards for speed. Still, the Touch Book is significantly cheaper than the other touchscreen netbooks on the market today, including the Eee PC T91 and Gigabyte Touch Note T1028X, which go for $499 and $680 respectively.

Update: Feger and other users have begun posting more information and photos.

Always Innovating is beginning to ship the Touch Book to customers who placed pre-orders. The Always Innovating Touch Book is a cross between a netbook and a tablet PC. The base unit, which sells for $299, is a low power touchscreen tablet with an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel screen and TI OMAP3530 CPU. For another $100, you get a keyboard that you can slide the tablet into for use as a standard laptop-style netbook.

The computer has 256MB of RAM and 256MB of flash storage, but also includes an 8GB SD card for additional storage. The machine also has 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and 7 USB ports. There are two internal batteries, one weighing in at 6000mAh, while the second is a 12,000 mAh battery.

The Touch Book uses a custom Linux distribution, which Always Innovating describes as beta software that is still under construction. The company plans to offer support for other operating systems including Google Android or Moblin in the future.

via Engadget

Always Innovating’s Touch Book is scheduled to begin shipping this month. This little computer is a combo netbook/tablet. But instead of folding the touchscreen display down over the keyboard for use in tablet mode as you would with most tablet computers, you can actually remove the screen from the keyboard and use it as a standalone device. Heck, you can even save $100 and purchase the display for $299 without the keyboard at all.

The device was first introduced at the DEMO conference a few months ago, where it made a bit of a splash. But for some reason nobody ever brought the DEMO demo video to my attention… until today. UMPC Portal tracked down a video of the presentation Always Innovating Made, showing that the Touch Book has a touch-friendly Linux-based OS, an accelerometer to adjust the screen when you rotate the machine, and 3D acceleration.

A few other things I learned:

• The Touch Book is designed to run for 10 to 15 hours on a battery charge
• The case is magnetic and, at least in theory, you should be able to stick it on your fridge
• It’s fanless

The prototype was running the Fennec web browser, which is an early build of a mobile version of Firefox. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the final build ran a full version of Firefox. I already knew that the Touch Book featured a few internal USB ports. What I didn’t realize until I saw this video is just how much room there is on the inside of the case. You can literally take a USB flash drive, 3G adapter, or other dongle and just stick it into an internal port if you don’t expect to unplug it very often.

You can check out the demo video after the break.

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Always Innovating has begun manufacturing the first batch of its Touch Book computers, and the company expects it to begin shipping in July.

The Touch Book is a mini-computer with two modes. You can use it as a laptop or as a touchscreen tablet. But unlike other convertible tablets including the Gigabyte Touch Note and Asus Eee PC T91, the Touch Book doesn’t have a swivel for folding the screen down over the keyboard. Instead, it has a detachable screen which can be used as a standalone device. When you want to use the keyboard, you just slide the screen into its keyboard dock.

The Touch Book has an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a TI OMAP3530 CPU with 256MB of RAM, and two internal batteries, a 6,000mAh and a 12,000 battery. There are 7 USB ports, including three external and four internal ports, with three of those internal ports reserved for the WiFi, Bluetooth, and Keyboard. The Touch Book uses an 8GB SD card for its primary storage and includes a USB 802.11b/g/n WiFi dongle. The keyboard is described as being 95% the size of a full keyboard, which is unusual for a machine with an 8.9 inch display.

Always Innovating says the machine’s Linux-based operating system is still a work in progress and that anyone who pre-ordered a Touch Book and receives one in July should expect to be working with beta software, although support and updates will be available.

The Touch Book tablet is available for pre-order for $299, while a tablet and keyboard will set you back $399.

via Engadget

The Touch Book from Always Innovating is designed to blur the lines between netbooks and UMPCs. The machine has an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display and a keyboard. But you can also remove the display and use it as a portable tablet.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of configuration. The original Elonex One netbook had a removable display. But it also had a small 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel screen and a huge bezel around the edges. The Touch Book looks much more attractive. The specs don’t look too shabby either, although I’d like to know more about the operating system and how it performs with that CPU:

• Dimensions: 9.4″ x 7″ x 1.4″
• Weight: 2 pounds (with keyboard)
• CPU: ARM Texas Instruments OMAP3
• Display: 8.9″ 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen
• Storage: 8GB micro SD card
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth
• Expansion: 6 USB ports (3 internal, 2 external, and 1 mini)
• Battery: Claimed 10 to 15 hours of battery life

The machine also has speakers, a mic and headphone jack, and an accelerometer, which I assume will reorient the screen when you rotate the display. The Touch Book comes preloaded with Fennec, which is the code name for Mozilla’s early version of Firefox for mobile devices.

Always Innovating expects to sell just the display for $299, or the display and keyboard together for $399. The company is showing the computer at the DEMO conference today.

Gizmodo has some hands-on photos of the Touch Book, including a look at its motherboard.