Samsung Leaves the Norm with Keyboard-Equipped Windows 7 Tablet

Most of the debates on whether or not tablets are a threat to netbooks at least once mention how the latter have physical keyboards and the former don't, so Samsung figured it would invalidate that argument for at least one device.

As consumers well know, quite a number of tablets have been announced already, even though just a few of them, like Advent's very popular Vega, are actually on sale.

Some of them use x86 processors while others employ an ARM-based solution, such as the Tegra 2 SoC (system on chip) from NVIDIA.

Still, what all media slates have in common is that they lack a physical keyboard, this being their main drawback in their so-called duel with netbooks.

Now, Samsung is revealed to be working on a tablet whose design includes a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

The product goes by the name of Gloria and it is what could be called a 'modified' 10-inch tablet.

Not much is actually known about the specifications of the product, except for the fact that the display will have touch input.

There is also the fact that it will be pre-loaded with the Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System, meaning that the ARM architecture is excluded.

One can assume that either a Pine Trail or Oak Trail central processor will be used as the center piece, backed up by matching memory and graphics capabilities.

It is also unclear how Samsung intends for the keyboard itself to be used, since thumb-typing won't be very easy to achieve on one with a diagonal of 10 inches while also having to hold the Gloria up.

Regardless, those interested in the idea will probably have to wait a while before learning just how this product is meant to be handled.

The report says Samsung won't have the Gloria ready for CES, 2011, but that it plans to make the formal launch in March or April.