Toshiba has taped two touch screens together to create the Libretto W100, a funky mini-notebook with limited availability.
The Libretto W100's screens each measure 7-inches, with 1024-by-600 resolution. Windows 7 Home Premium is the operating system, and there's a 1.2 GHz Intel Pentium U5400 processor, 2 GB of DDR3 RAM and 64 GB solid state drive inside. The W100 also includes a 1-megapixel Web cam and built-in accelerometer, should you want to hold the device upright like a book.
A virtual keyboard tries to emulate the physical feel with haptic feedback, and it can switch between several modes, including simple and full keyboards, a number pad and a keypad optimized for thumb typing. In addition to Windows, Toshiba has loaded the device with its own software, called Bulletin Board, which allows for customizable widgets and application shortcuts.
Toshiba is calling the Libretto W100 a "concept" device, and for good reason. Cool as the idea seems, the W100 has a couple gotchas: Battery life is expected to be roughly four hours, according to Engadget, and the device will debut for $1,099. Obviously, this is no iPad killer, just a neat idea for deep-pocketed techies to play around with.
But what an idea. Dual touch-screen computers have surfaced in prototype for years, but never as a product you can actually own. Most recently, MSI showed off a dual screen tablet at CES, but we haven't heard much about it since then, except that it's delayed until Q4. Toshiba says the W100 will go on sale in limited batches in a few months.
Still, I'm not among the folks curious enough to see what this is like, especially with Windows as the operating system. I'd much rather see an OS built from the ground-up with dual touch screens in mind, but the leading candidate, Microsoft's Courier, was scrapped.
