Modbook Making Another Attempt at Tablet Market
Modbook Making Another Attempt at Tablet Market
Andreas Haas is persistent, we'll give him that. Approximately three years before the original iPad was released, the co-founder and his company, Axiotron, attempted to bring the world its first MacBook Pro tablet. Using all the components of the MacBook Pro, Axiotron's engineers were able to design a tablet computer running OS X. Axiotron didn't take off, but Haas and his OS X tablet dream never died.
And so we jump to today, where 9to5Mac reports that Haas and his new company, Modbook Inc., announced that it will once again try its hand at the tablet market, despite the fact that it's saturated with mobile products. Haas however, plans on releasing "the world's most powerful and largest-screen tablet computer" this fall, running the soon to be brand new, OS X Mountain Lion.
The new Modbook Pro will come in two iterations, offering the same specifications as the new 13.3-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro. The tablet, like the original attempt, uses the MBP's insides. Modbook, however, created its own outer shell, incorporating the Wacom pen tablet technology, which provides users with 512 different levels of pen pressure sensitivity. The ForceGlass screen is scratch resistant, and provides the same look and feel drawing and writing on a paper surface. The tablet also comes with a digitizer pen with two programmable side buttons and digital eraser.
The Modbook Pro will offer the option to configure ots internal storage space up to 1TB. Additionally, battery life should not be affected by the hardware change and Modbook users will even be able to utilize their Apple 60W MagSafe adapter for charging.
Unfortunately, all of this is not without a few caveats. The Modbook sacrifices the MacBook Pro's FaceTime camera, as well as the one-year warranty offered as a standard with Apple computers. The camera is a huge loss to Mac users, but Modbook Inc. has been able to substitute the Apple warranty with a warranty of their own, offering the same one-year standard as the MacBook Pro.
The Modbook Pro seems a bit outdated. More and more people are using their iPads for business and design, especially now that there are a slew of mobile office apps and Adobe has launched several tablet-drawing apps. Does the world really need a Modbook Pro when it has practically the same functionality as the market leader?
Modbook Inc. will start taking preorders in the near future, with a planned release this fall. No information on pricing and availability have been made public at this time.
Follow this article's author Daniel Turk.
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