Dell dips into tablet market

Dell has taken its first steps into the tablet PC sector, with the launch of the Latitude XT.

The 12.1" convertible tablet marks Dell's first product in the form factor, meaning that all of the major notebook vendors now have tablet products.

The company is promoting the display technologies of the Latitude XT, which Dell says make it superior to similar tablet offerings. The tablet has a capacitive touch screen, which provides better response for touch screen operations, and will be upgradeable for multi-touch input, which allows users to use two fingers to input on the screen at the same time.

The Latitude XT will be powered by Intel Core 2^TM Solo and Duo ULV processors, and will be available with up to 120GB HDD or 64GB solid state drive (SDD).

With a standard four cell Hr L-Ion battery the Latitude will weigh in at 1.6kg, although optional battery options can take this to 1.9k, while providing 9.5 hour battery life. At around one inch in wdith, Dell says the Latitude XT it the slimmest 12.1" tablet available, and one of the lightest for its size. Sameh El Deeb, client PC product manager, Dell Middle East said: "We are listening and aim to exceed customers' expectations. Until now, customers have been forced to make tradeoffs in tablet functionality to have usable systems. The Latitude XT will revolutionise the way customers interact with their systems, allow customers to take full advantage of tablet technology and enables customers to get more done with greater speed and precision."

The Latitude XT will be widely available from January 2008, with an expected retail price of around $2,000 excluding tax and customs.