Dell unveiled a new type of netbook today -- one where the screen flips around to go from netbook to tablet. And it's sexy. Damn sexy.
OK, it's not the first time in the world someone's made a convertible tablet where the screen can fold back over the keyboard. But they're usually chunky and expensive niche devices targeted at specific business users like doctors.
This sweet Dell Inspiron Duo netbook, showed for the first time at IDF San Francisco today, on the other hand, looks like something that will be totally mainstream.
Its flipping screen mechanism allows the user to rotate the screen within the shell of the laptop lid, allowing it to be used as a tablet (with the screen facing out) or a notebook (with the screen facing in).
According to Dell it runs a dual-core Atom, and they made the claim that it's the most powerful 10" tablet around. There's also an optional dock for it that includes loudish speakers and makes watching movies on it more enjoyable.
Dell says it'll be out later this year, running Windows 7 Home Premium, and judging by the reaction from the crowd at IDF, it'll be a hot seller.
Dan Warne is attending IDF San Francisco as a guest of Intel.