Touch Book

Last updated
Touch Book
Full touchbook.png
Always Innovating Touch Book
ManufacturerAlways Innovating
Type NetBook, smartbook, UMPC
Operating system Fork of Ångström (Linux), Ubuntu, Android
CPU Overclocked 720 MHz OMAP3530 ARM Cortex-A8 (32-bit) and 420 MHz DSP core, NEON support [1]
Memory512 MB low power DDR-333
Storage SDHC slot with 8 GB SD card, 256 MB internal NAND
Inputtouchscreen, keyboard, touchpad and supports any external USB input device
Connectivity Wi-Fi, 7× USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth
Website www.alwaysinnovating.com

The Touch Book is a portable computing device that functions as a netbook, and a tablet computer. Designed by Always Innovating, a company situated in the city of Menlo Park, in California, USA, [2] it was launched at the DEMO conference in March 2009. [3] Its designers stated at launch that it is the first netbook featuring a detachable keyboard with a long battery life (more than 10 hours [4] ). It is based on the ARM TI OMAP3530 processor (taking advantage of the Beagleboard and existing open source software) and features a touchscreen.

Contents

First units to customers were shipped in August 2009. [5] There were some (expected) software issues for early adopters, which are being progressively addressed. There were also some hardware issues, which resulted in community discontent. [6]

After much speculation on the community forum, a revised v.2 Touch Book and new Smart Book product were announced. [7] The Smart Book is based on the BeagleBoard-xM design. [8]

Overview

The Touch Book, in its "reverse" mode Reversed touchbook.png
The Touch Book, in its "reverse" mode

The Touch Book is a netbook and a touch tablet device. It features a detachable keyboard, a removable back cover to access the electronics of the device, and several Linux distributions shipped by default and offered via a multiboot system.

The default operating system launched is a custom Linux OS based on Ångström, being custom themed to fit the small form factor. Since 2010, the Touch Book comes with a multi-boot graphical interface, allowing users to run also Ubuntu and Android. Users can install other OSes like Gentoo [9] and RISC OS. [10]

Touch Book's major intended uses are media viewing and web browsing, although more power-hungry applications such as OpenOffice.org are available on the device. The Touch Book ships standard graphics libraries such as OpenGL ES and SDL.

The Always Innovating team claims the device follows an open hardware philosophy, so that anyone can access the hardware design from the company's website, [11] modify it and redistribute it. Although the business model of open hardware is still maturing, it seems to be profitable to the company [12]

In addition to this open hardware approach, the Touch Book fully relies on open source software. A Git repository of the entire OS is currently available, allowing for download of the latest kernel source as well as the different root file systems. [13] A community of contributors has emerged [14] and is interacting with the Always Innovating developers.

Technical specifications

Similar products

Other single-board computers using OMAP3500 series processors include OSWALD, [15] Beagle Board, IGEPv2, Pandora and Gumstix Overo series. Since launch of the device in March 2009, several similar devices have come up in early 2010, such as the Freescale tablet reference design [16] or the Lenovo U1 IdeaPad. [17] or the Panasonic Toughbook.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pegasos</span>

Pegasos is a MicroATX motherboard powered by a PowerPC 750CXe or PowerPC 7447 microprocessor, featuring three PCI slots, one AGP slot, two Ethernet ports, USB, DDR, AC'97 sound, and FireWire. Like the PowerPC Macintosh counterparts, it boots via Open Firmware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netbook</span> Class of small and inexpensive laptops

A netbook is a small and inexpensive laptop designed primarily as a means of accessing the Internet. Netbooks were sold from 2007 until around 2013, when the widespread advent of smartphones and tablets eclipsed their popularity.

The NSLU2 is a network-attached storage (NAS) device made by Linksys introduced in 2004 and discontinued in 2008. It makes USB flash memory and hard disks accessible over a network using the SMB protocol. It was superseded mainly by the NAS200 and in another sense by the WRT600N and WRT300N/350N which both combine a Wi-Fi router with a storage link.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tablet computer</span> Mobile computer with integrated display, circuitry and battery

A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers, have similar capabilities, but lack some input/output (I/O) abilities that others have. Modern tablets largely resemble modern smartphones, the only differences being that tablets are relatively larger than smartphones, with screens 7 inches (18 cm) or larger, measured diagonally, and may not support access to a cellular network. Unlike laptops, tablets usually run mobile operating systems, alongside smartphones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDE Plasma 4</span> Graphical environments provided by KDE

KDE Plasma 4 is the fourth generation of the KDE workspace environments. It consisted of three workspaces, each targeting a certain platform: Plasma Desktop for traditional desktop PCs and notebooks, Plasma Netbook for netbooks, and Plasma Active for tablet PCs and similar devices.

The Classmate PC, formerly known as Eduwise, is Intel's entry into the market for low-cost personal computers for children in the developing world. It is in some respects similar to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) trade association's Children's Machine (XO), which has a similar target market. Although made for profit, the Classmate PC is considered an Information and Communication Technologies for Development project (ICT4D). Introduced in 2006, the device falls into the then popular category of netbooks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Efika</span>

Efika is a line of power efficient ARM architecture and Power ISA based computers manufactured by Genesi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pandora (computer)</span> Handheld game console

The Pandora is a handheld gaming computer originally released in 2010. It is designed to take advantage of existing free and open-source software and to be a target for homebrew development. It is developed and produced by OpenPandora, which is made up of former distributors and community members of the GP32 and GP2X handhelds. Until 2013, multiple batches of slightly updated Pandora variants were produced. In 2014 the development of a redesigned and upgraded successor, called DragonBox Pyra, was started.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CloudBook</span>

The CloudBook is a discontinued x86 subnotebook, or Ultra-Mobile PC developed by Everex using a VIA processor, chipset, and NanoBook reference design. It competed with the Asus Eee PC, the OLPC XO-1 and the Classmate PC. The device was categorized as a netbook when it was around 2008.

The i.MX range is a family of Freescale Semiconductor proprietary microcontrollers for multimedia applications based on the ARM architecture and focused on low-power consumption. The i.MX application processors are SoCs (System-on-Chip) that integrate many processing units into one die, like the main CPU, a video processing unit, and a graphics processing unit for instance. The i.MX products are qualified for automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. Most of them are guaranteed for a production lifetime of 10 to 15 years.
Devices that use i.MX processors include Ford Sync, the Amazon Kindle and Kobo eReader series of e-readers until 2021, Zune, Sony Reader, Onyx Boox readers/tablets, SolidRun SOM's, Purism's Librem 5, some Logitech Harmony remote controls and Squeezebox radio and some Toshiba Gigabeat MP4 players. The i.MX range was previously known as the "DragonBall MX" family, the fifth generation of DragonBall microcontrollers. i.MX originally stood for "innovative Multimedia eXtension".

The Elonex ONE was a netbook computer marketed to the education sector by Elonex. The ONE's operating system was called Linos, based on Linux kernel 2.6.21, and the device had Wi-Fi connectivity, Ethernet networking, a solid-state hard drive, two USB ports and weighed less than 1 kg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acer Aspire One</span> Line of netbooks by Acer Inc.

Acer Aspire One is a line of netbooks first released in July 2008 by Acer Inc.

These tables provide a comparison of netbooks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gigabyte M912</span> Netbook by Gigabyte

The first netbook offering by Gigabyte, the M912, is a hybrid netvertible Tablet PC device, was released in 2008. It features an Intel Atom processor and comes preloaded with either Windows XP, Windows Vista or a customised Linux distribution. The hardware varies slightly depending on the OS chosen. The Linux Version for example does not include Bluetooth and has a lower resolution screen. Press accounts suggest that there may be significant heat and speed issues compared with other netbooks. Other criticisms focus on Gigabyte's choice to ship one variant with Windows Vista Home Basic, which lacks official Tablet PC support.

Cherrypal is a California-based marketer of Chinese-manufactured consumer-oriented computers. It markets a range of models with a diversity of CPU-types, structures, features, and operating systems. Commentators have observed that Cherrypal arguably beat the heralded and much-better financed one Laptop per Child (OLPC) project to its goal of a $100 "laptop".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BeagleBoard</span> Single board computer

The BeagleBoard is a low-power open-source single-board computer produced by Texas Instruments in association with Digi-Key and Newark element14. The BeagleBoard was also designed with open source software development in mind, and as a way of demonstrating the Texas Instrument's OMAP3530 system-on-a-chip. The board was developed by a small team of engineers as an educational board that could be used in colleges around the world to teach open source hardware and software capabilities. It is also sold to the public under the Creative Commons share-alike license. The board was designed using Cadence OrCAD for schematics and Cadence Allegro for PCB manufacturing; no simulation software was used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smartbook</span>

A smartbook was a class of mobile device that combined certain features of both a smartphone and netbook computer, produced between 2009 and 2010. Smartbooks were advertised with features such as always on, all-day battery life, 3G, or Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS in a laptop or tablet-style body with a screen size of 5 to 10 inches and a physical or soft touchscreen keyboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MeeGo</span> Discontinued Linux distribution

MeeGo is a discontinued Linux distribution hosted by the Linux Foundation, using source code from the operating systems Moblin and Maemo. MeeGo was primarily targeted at mobile devices and information appliances in the consumer electronics market. It was designed to act as an operating system for hardware platforms such as netbooks, entry-level desktops, nettops, tablet computers, mobile computing and communications devices, in-vehicle infotainment devices, SmartTV / ConnectedTV, IPTV-boxes, smart phones, and other embedded systems.

The history of tablet computers and the associated special operating software is an example of pen computing technology, and thus the development of tablets has deep historical roots. The first patent for a system that recognized handwritten characters by analyzing the handwriting motion was granted in 1914. The first publicly demonstrated system using a tablet and handwriting recognition instead of a keyboard for working with a modern digital computer dates to 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PandaBoard</span> Single board computer

The PandaBoard was a low-power single-board computer development platform based on the Texas Instruments OMAP4430 system on a chip (SoC). The board has been available to the public at the subsidized price of US$174 since 27 October 2010. It is a community supported development platform.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Touch Book specifications". Always Innovating. Archived from the original on 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  2. "Always Innovating – Meldungen". Teltarif.de. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  3. "Launch of the Touch Book at DEMO '09". Demo.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-10. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  4. "Official Always Innovating Site". Always Innovating. Archived from the original on 2005-02-06. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  5. "IRC Log for 2009-08-23". alwaysinnovating.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  6. "AI official forum: Hardware " Touch Book". alwaysinnovating.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  7. "AI news – Tue September 14, 2010: Announcing the Smart Book". alwaysinnovating.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  8. "It's a MID, a tablet, a netbook, even an external display!". linuxfordevices.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04.
  9. "Gentoo on the Touch Book". Disi.me. Archived from the original on 2010-08-29.
  10. "RISC OS on Touchbook first steps". riscos.info. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  11. "Always Innovating Open Hardware". Always Innovating. Archived from the original on 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  12. "Open Hardware takes baby steps toward the gadget mainstream". Computerworld.com. 3 March 2010. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  13. "Always Innovating open git repository". Always Innovating. Archived from the original on 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  14. "Touch Book contributors". Always Innovating. Archived from the original on 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  15. "Computer Science Platform for Learning - Trac". Archived from the original on 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  16. Chen, Jason. "Freescale Tablet Hands On: This Is Last-Gen". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  17. "Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid hands-on and impressions". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2019-06-10.