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Heads or Tails? Dual Touch Screen Laptop Is CES Highlight


eDetail Shows Off Dual Touch Screen Laptop

Riddle us this: what's better than a laptop with one screen? A laptop with two screens!

eDetail was at CES this week showing off its award-winning dual screened computer tablet.

The unique dual multi-touch screened monster is primarily targeted at professionals and commercial applications, but the company is producing a 14-inch model aimed more at consumers. Professionals can use the laptop to give mobile presentations, showing customers a slide show or questionnaire on the larger front screen while controlling it all from the smaller back screen. The laptop also has a programmable hot key that can be used for launching a presentation.

The laptop has a built-in camera and microphone for video conferencing. One can imagine flipping the top screen up to watch a movie or opening iTunes iwhile using a word processor or browsing the internet on the main screen.

The 14-inch model is expected to retail for about $1,200 loaded with Windows XP, 512 megabytes of RAM, and an 80 gigabyte hard drive. The one questionable decision was going with AMD's Geode processor, the same chip in the OLPC XO. The Geode allows the eDetail computer to stay cool even with-out fans and last all day without recharging, but the Geode is a little underpowered for running Windows.


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Intel's Shrinking Processors: What It Means For Your Next Computer

Intel's Shrinking Processors and What It Means for You
The fact that Intel has started using a 45-nanometer manufacturing process may not mean much to you. In fact there's a chance you're staring at your computer screen right now, head titled, with a perplexed look on your face. But it's ok, we at Switched are here to help clear up what the new processors mean for you.

45 nanometers refers to the smallest possible features a processor can have. This is made possible by a new manufacturing technique. By comparison, the human hair can be as thick as 181 micrometers, or about 4000 times larger than the smallest features on the new Intel processors. Intel also introduced new a new transistor technology called high-k which reduces the amount of leakage, or wasted electricity. This new technology has been applied to processors across the Intel lineup, from laptop chips, to servers, to the company's new Menlow processors (pictured above) for tiny Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPC) and Mobile Internet Devices (MID).

So what exactly does this mean for you, the consumer? It means faster, smaller, cooler computers that use less energy. Laptops that you can actually use in your lap because they no longer get hot enough to cook an egg on, MIDs that will approach the iPhone in size, and computers so fast that most current games won't put a strain on them are all on their way. Intel started shipping processors based on the new manufacturing process back in November, but many companies waited until this week's Consumer Electronics Showcase to unveil products based on them. The bottom line is that this new technology is good for the consumer, but bad for AMD, Intel's main rival.

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