14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like Dell is getting ready to launch one of those older types of tablets, the convertible variety as it were, now that a certain FCC filing has been spotted on the web and analyzed.
The Federal Communications Commission often tests mobile devices and other electronics set to have broadband/wireless connectivity.
Very often, the devices that pass through its hands end up summarized, more or less, in filings that are available to the public eye, provided people actually take a look at its website.
Of course, market watchers always do seem to spot when the FCC releases a new filing, meaning that a very recent one did not go by unnoticed.
The filing located here describes a convertible tablet that Dell has been developing.
It is said to bear the name of Dell Panerai and has not really been detailed much, since the FCC really only is concerned with the wireless hardware. (The Intel Centrino 6230 chipset for WiFi a/b/g/n is employed)
There are also a pair of antennas, built into the display section, and it is specifically said in the test report that both a tablet mode and a laptop mode are present.
All these things considered, it is quite likely that Panerai will become a successor of sorts to the Inspiron Duo.
For those that don't remember, the Duo has an Intel Atom central processing unit, this being the only reason it didn't really sell that well.
Now that the Sandy Bridge CPUs are out (and they use the 32nm process, with lower power requirements that previous Core chips), Dell might just choose a Core i5 or even Core i7 model, which have built-in graphics as a bonus.
Some believe that Dell would do well to implement touch input support, but there is nothing to indicate anything of the sort was done. All in all, users will have to keep waiting until the company actually decides to formally release the convertible tablet.