Mobile Computing News

Photo: HP

X2, a UK based company, has announced a tablet device called the iTablet, one of the oft-rumoured names of Apple’s device before iPad was the confirmed name. This arguably opportunistic move comes in the wake of over two weeks of Internet-wide iPad pontification, and X2 looks set to make its mark in the increasingly crowded tablet market.

An old Tablet reissued?

Photo: AMtek

What some have noted, namely Engadget editor Thomas Ricker, is that the iTablet is identical to an AMtek device that first arrived on the scene, to little fanfare, way back in 2007. Two prevailing schools of thought have emerged from this. The first is that the promotional material used to unveil the iTablet is identical to that used for AMtek device’s while X2 complete their own product. This is to say, the iTablet may not look entirely like the promotional images doing the rounds. The other theory is that the device really is the exact same thing it was in 2007, only this time with a name that’s recently become search engine friendly.

The looks and the goods

This device can be powered by any Windows operating system of your choosing, ranging from Windows XP right up to Windows 7. The iTablet’s, not altogether unlike the iPad, comes in 10.2-inch and 12.1-inch sizes, with available colours on release being pink, yellow, red, white, black, grey and blue.

This tablet is set to be powered by a 1.6GHz Intel chip, with a 250GB on-board hard drive, a 1.3mp camera, 3 USB slots and Wi-fi for connectivity, with 3G being an optional extra. In embracing the HD revolution, it will also have an optional HDMI slot.

Photo: Apple

As yet, pricing has not been confirmed and the device is expected to appear on shelves sometime this April, a month after the iPad. Given that it is Windows powered and seems to be nothing more than a Windows operating system with a few extra touches, we have the same concerns for the iTablet that we had for the HP Slate PC, namely whether it is okay to do half a job by gluing multi-touch onto a point-and-click-based operating system, instead of implementing it from the ground up.