Dell announces tablet for businesses

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Dell will sell a new Latitude tablet for businesses with Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system, and it is also preparing to bring the OS’s successor, Windows 8, to tablets.

"The Latitude ST has a 10.1" screen and is designed for use in enterprises," said Kirk Schell, executive director and general manager for Dell’s Business Product Group. The tablet has provisioning, security and management features aimed at businesses.

The ST tablet is an expansion to the Latitude line of laptops and desktops for businesses, Schell said. A separate keyboard can be attached to the tablet to turn it into a PC, but the tablet form factor is more advantageous as it is highly portable, Schell said. The tablet will offer seven hours of battery life, and weight starts at 1.8 pounds (816 grams).

The product will be available on 1 November in 53 countries, according to the company’s website. The tablet runs on Intel’s Atom Z670 processor with a clock speed of 1.5GHz, and has up to 128Gb of storage.

The Latitude ST can run virtualisation technology from VMware and Citrix, and the tablet can be remotely configured and managed the same way as a PC, Schell said. The tablet can be remotely managed and updated through a Kace appliance, which can track software compliance and hardware configurations and changes.

Schell did not say if the ST tablet will be directly upgradable to Microsoft’s Windows 8, but said the company would release a tablet in the future based on the upcoming OS. Microsoft has not yet provided a Windows 8 release date, but Intel executives have said Windows 8 would come out next year.

"As an OS designed for tablets, Windows 8 will let legacy applications be controlled by touch screens, Schell said. Dell is working with Microsoft on application development for the OS," Schell said.

The Latitude ST can also take the form of a consumer tablet and be used to surf the Web and check e-mail, Schell said. The tablet has 2Gb of DDR2 RAM, Wi-Fi, an SD card reader and a HDMI port. Optional items include a 3G chip for mobile broadband connectivity.

IDG News Service

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