New Dell tablet design leaked
Engadget were handed a few pictures of this 7″ tablet thingie today. I’m still not sure it’s real. I’m probably wrong, though; Engadget have a habit of getting leaked Dell stuff that turns out to be true.
But that keyboard design makes me wonder. You can see that it is split and is supposed to be held in 2 hands while you type with your thumbs, right? There’s a spacebar in the center, and it would probably be out of reach of most thumbs. In fact, I just pulled out a couple 7″ tablets for a size comparison and I don’t think my thumbs are long enough to reach that spacebar.
Update: the photos came from Tweakers, a Dutch German tech blog. This design was a pre-production model from a few years ago. It was never released, but the design did eventually influence the Dell Inspiron Duo.
Comments
Dustin Sullivan June 9, 2011 um 9:02 am
Engadget updated their post.
"So it turns out that these photos were actually taken by Tweakers, who met up with the crew from Dell’s Austin Design Center to gaze upon this prototype tablet earlier this week. Tweakers says that the concept is about three to four years old, and it eventually led to the development of the eccentric Inspiron Duo. Unsurprisingly, Dell also confirmed to us that this device will never make it to the market; but of course, there’s still the Streak 10 Pro Android tablet to look forward to."
Nate Hoffelder June 9, 2011 um 9:21 am
I’ve gotten a hint that there’s more to the story, actually.
Thanks for pointing out the Engadget update!
Ron June 10, 2011 um 6:42 am
Ehhmmm, just for the record: Tweakers is not a German website – it’s Dutch.
Nate Hoffelder June 10, 2011 um 6:45 am
Whoops. Thanks!