Toshiba Intel Classmate Tablet PC Heads to Japan

Ever since Apple launched its controversial media tablet known as iPad, slates practically became synonymous with the idea of an entertainment device. And yet, industrial, professional and educational tablet PCs have existed since long before the media tablet even rose to fame. This is exactly what Toshiba, now partnered with Intel, has, indirectly, proven, now that a certain product made by it is headed for Japan.

Apparently, the PC supplier has entered into a sort of partnership with Intel and will promote and sell the so-called CM1, where CM is short for Classmate PC. It is a convertible tablet based on the Intel Pine Trail platform, though its specifications appear to exceed those of notebooks.

At the heart of the configuration lies an Intel Atom N450 central processing unit, clocked at 1.66GHz. This CPU is backed up by 2GB of RAM and a hard disk drive with a capacity of 160GB. The touchscreen display that Toshiba provided measures, predictably, 10.1 inches, though its screen resolution is quite a few steps above that of regular entry-level systems. More precisely, the panel has a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Not only that, but the panel can even rotate 180 degrees, allowing for the switch between laptop and tablet form factors.

The Toshiba CM1 is pre-loaded with the Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 32bit operating system and will be its and Intel's means of promoting ICT-supported education in elementary and junior high schools. The official Japan launch will occur in August, but the actual pricing details have, for now, not been made public. Following that, Intel will even employ the CM1 in demonstrations at schools and educational programs.

“The CM1 has been specially developed to be commercialized for educational purposes by Intel, which promotes ICT education on a global basis, and by Toshiba, which has technologies and expertise for notebook PCs,” the official press release states. “The monitor rotates 180 degrees and has a touch screen LCD that supports pen input, allowing students to practice handwriting. The PC also has a handle to make it easy to carry around at school.”