Intel today unveiled the most flexible and durable Intel-powered convertible classmate PC reference design yet.
This new addition combines aesthetics with ruggedness, full PC functionality with enhanced e-learning capabilities and improved performance with energy efficiency.
Featuring the Intel Atom processor and a 10.1-inch LCD monitor, the new convertible classmate PC includes increased memory and storage. The new design can change instantly from a clamshell to a tablet PC, allowing students to naturally switch form factors as they move between activities and locations in the classroom, an observation that Intel ethnographic researchers have termed "micro-mobility."
"Our ethnographers have spent countless hours understanding how technology can help school age children here in the U.S. and around the world build the skills required for the future," said Kapil Wadhera, acting general manager of Intel's Emerging Markets Platform Group, which developed the Intel-powered classmate PC reference design based on ethnographic research. "At Intel, we believe that education has the power to transform the lives of individuals, villages, cities and nations, and we understand that technology is one of our greatest tools to advance education around the world."
The new Intel-powered convertible classmate PC features a touch-screen with a user interface optimized for eReading applications, water-resistant keyboard, touchpad and screen, improved ruggedness with drop test from desk height, bump and scratch resistance surfaces and structures, and an optional anti-microbial keyboard. In tablet mode, the "palm rejection" feature ignores the touch of hands resting on the screen, allowing students to write and draw intuitively. In addition to being powered by the power-efficient Intel Atom processor, the new classmate PC features a rechargeable battery with up to 8.5 hours of battery life. It also includes integrated wireless connectivity with WiFi and provides the options of 3G, GPS and WiMAX.
More than 300 vendors - including hardware, operating system, software vendors and enterprise solutions providers - are developing applications, peripherals and services optimized for Intel-powered classmate PCs as a part of the Intel Learning Series offering. This solution will be brought to students by a network of local OEMs including CTL, Equus and M&A in the United States, MDG in Canada and local OEMs in Australia, Argentina, China, Germany, India, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, in addition to Benelux region.