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We get our hands on the Dell Inspiron Duo

Dell has captured the imagination of a tablet-crazed public with a handful of recent photos and details about a new convertible tablet called the Inspiron Duo. A prerelease sample has turned up in the CNET Labs for a hands-on test drive, and we're generally impressed with the design and concept, if less so with the performance.

Unlike traditional convertible tablets, which have screens that rotate 180 degrees horizontally, the Inspiron Duo screen flips 180 degrees vertically--hinged in the middle of the lid. When the screen is flipped over and the lid closed, the system launches a touch-friendly interface for interacting with photos, videos, and music (and returns to the basic Windows desktop when the transformation is reversed).

The flipping motion worked well on our demo unit, although the hinge felt a little loose. You have to take care to turn the screen only in the correct direction, essentially pushing the top of the screen back through the lid. Also, the screen occasionally collided with the keyboard with an audible thunk if we weren't careful about opening the laptop body wide enough for proper clearance. … Read more

Full review: Nook Color

Barnes & Noble announced today that its new "reader's tablet," the $250 touch-screen Nook Color, has begun shipping slightly ahead of schedule to customers who preordered the device. Some may even receive their units as early as today.

As for us, well, we picked up a review unit the other day at the company's headquarters in New York and put it through its paces over the last few days. While we still think Barnes & Noble has some work to do with adding more apps, all in all, the Nook Color is a very capable e-reader … Read more

TomTom announces capacitive-screened GO series

TomTom continues to update its line up of GPS navigation devices. This time, it has announced the two newest models of its top-tier GO line of GPS navigators, the TomTom GO 2405 TM and the GO 2505 TM. These models feature a new external aesthetic, an updated user interface, and the promise of faster routing.

The GO 2405 TM and GO 2505 TM differ from one another only in screen size (4.3 inches for the 2405 and 5 inches for the 2505). Both units feature glass capacitive touch screens that allow users to swipe and pinch their way around the TomTom interface. There's also a new metallic chassis with an asymmetric rear-panel design and a suction-cup mount car cradle that holds the GO unit in place with a strong magnet for easy attachment and release.

One area where TomTom has typically struggled (at least in our eyes) is its menu structure and graphic user interface (GUI). The TomTom GUI saw marked improvements with the entry-level TomTom Ease and further refinement with the XL 350 and XXL 550 software update. The new GO models feature a further evolution of TomTom's interface with dramatically improved graphics and reduced aliasing on the map screens, vibrantly colored icons in the menus, and easy-to-read text throughout. The new screen is a gem, and the updated interface really shows it off. … Read more

PSP Phone: 6 things we still don't know

We expected it for months, we heard rumors of its existence, and now photos have appeared seeming to confirm that a PlayStation phone is real. Such a device could simultaneously revive the flailing PSP platform and inject a truly gaming-ready smartphone into the Android ecosystem capable of competing with Apple.

We have our wish list of features we'd like to see, but based on what we've seen thus far, details are scarce. Some tech specs have been reported, but beyond that, there's a lot we still don't know. Among the many uncertainties, several unanswered questions come … Read more

Rumor: Is Apple diversifying the iPhone lineup to compete with Android?

Currently Apple offers only the newest generation of the iPhone, in one form factor, as well as one version of last year's model. A new report from Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu suggests Apple may be looking to diversify its iPhone offerings.

Wu's supply chain checks have reportedly revealed that Apple is sourcing a variety of touch-screen options, both smaller and larger than Apple's current 3.5-inch offering, though the report does not mention what specific sizes those would be.

Some feel that Apple must diversify its iPhone lineup due to increased competition from Android-based phones, citing … Read more

So, who's still buying Netbooks?

While PC makers are running full-speed to chase the iPad's success, it's notable that just as quickly they've stopped talking about Netbooks. Some people call them mini-notebooks. Even more people now call them that thing that's bigger than a smartphone but smaller than a laptop that looks more than a little bit clunky next to a tablet device.

Between October and December last year, PC makers shipped 10.5 million mini-notebooks, according to Gartner. That may have been a market peak. Fast-forward to the first quarter of this year: 9.7 million units shipped. Tick forward again to the second quarter of this year, and 8.4 million Netbooks left PC factories. The numbers are expected to drop even further in the coming months.

So what happened? It's not a stretch to connect the dots between the rise of the iPad and the sudden drop in last year's most-hyped product category. Even before the iPad was officially introduced in January, the talk of the PC world just a few weeks prior at CES 2010 was about tablets. Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Archos showed touch-screen tablets somewhat tentatively--few details were named, and some shipping dates were vague--but it was clear the attention had shifted away from targeting consumers looking for a new mobile device with Netbooks. … Read more

Immersion unveils new touch-screen haptics processor

Most onscreen keyboards, like those in the iPhone or other smartphones, have no tactile feedback, so you need to look at the screen and the virtual keyboard to make sure of the correct input. However, this might soon change, thanks to haptic technology, a mechanism that allows the screen to "touch" you back.

One of the major developers of this technology, the Immersion Corporation, announced Tuesday a new product that powers touch-feedback effects in touch-screen computers, the TouchSense 2500. The company claims that this product enables drop-in integrated circuit solutions to drive haptic effects that bring the user … Read more

iMac the next touch-screen Apple device?

Apple's put a touch interface on so many of its other products, could an iMac be next?

If a patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is any indication, the answer is possibly yes. Patently Apple, a blog that keeps tabs on Apple's USPTO filings, noticed an application on Monday that depicts a hinged-screen version of Apple's iMac desktop that has a touch-sensitive screen. The hinge appears to allow the computer to alternate between a traditional vertical desktop configuration and a flat, iPad-like surface when rocked back on its hinge.

Because this would … Read more

Nokia unveiling X3 'Touch and Type' music phone

Nokia announced Tuesday that its X3 smartphone will hit the European consumer market sometime in the third quarter and sell for around 125 euros ($160).

The Finnish mobile phone maker is touting the X3 as a "Touch and Type" model, offering users both a touch screen and traditional keypad. The 2.2-inch touch screen offers a resolution of 320x240 pixels. And at 9.6mm (less than 0.4 inches), the X3 will also be one of the company's slimmest, according to Nokia.

"We have given people a larger screen with clear icons and menus plus kept … Read more