Intel reveals 7 inch tablet for the education market

Intel has today announced a reference design for a 7 inch tablet as part of its Intel Learning Series initiative. The tablet will be known as the Intel Studybook and will retail for between $199 and $299 and multiple editions will be available by summer ahead of the new school year.

The tablet features a rugged design form factor that can survive drops from the height of a school desk (roughly 70cm) and since it is made from a single piece of plastic it is also liquid resistant.

Intel's educational tablet features a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen with an acceptable resolution at 1024 x 600. Powering the pixels is not one of Intel's Medfield mobile chipsets but a 1.2 GHz Atom Z560 Oak Trail processor. Enhancing the experience is a full gigabyte of RAM and a 4 GB SSD. More expensive versions will be available with 2 GB of RAM and up to 32 GB of SSD storage.

There is also a 1.3 MP rear facing camera plus a 0.3 MP front facing camera for taking quick pictures of notes in class. Internet access is provided through 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, there will also a 3G enabled version of the tablet.

At either end of the tablet behind plastic covers are where you will find the connectivity ports. Behind them you will find a full sized USB 2.0 port, an AC power connector, a full sized HDMI port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a SD card slot and (where applicable) a SIM card slot.

The tablet will weigh roughly 540 grams and battery life is stated at 5.5 hours of active usage. Which is actually pretty good if this is constant screen-on time. Either way 5.5 hours should be enough for a full day of use at school.

Looking at the software side of things, it will be able to run Windows 7 or Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Included in the operating systems will be a e-reader, note taking and drawing applications plus digital and interactive textbooks.

The Studybook will not be manufactured entirely by Intel, instead by liscencees who will distribute stock to local OEMs such as Lenovo.

Kitguru says: While not quite as cheap as the $25 tablet available to students in India, it manages to pack in much more productivity potentital.

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