January 2, 2008 Following its unveiling at last year's Macworld Conference & Expo, Californian based hardware manufacturer Axiotron has announced that the much anticipated Mobdbook™ tablet Mac solution is now available to consumers. Recently designated as an Apple-authorized product, the ModBook is the only Mac-based tablet computer on the market and comes pre-installed with Mac OS X Leopard™ and Inkwell® handwriting recognition software. Featuring a durable aircraft quality magnesium alloy structure, the 13.3" widescreen tablet incorporates Wacom® digitized pen-sensitive hardware with 512 levels of pressure sensitivity for responsive, intuitive onscreen writing and drawing, plus an in-built iSight® camera, a 2.0 GHz or 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, integrated 24x DVD Combo drive or 8x DVD SuperDrive and Global Positioning System (GPS) functionality.
The ModBook is essentially an after-market hardware modification to standard off-the-shelf Apple® MacBook™ systems that has been transformed into tablet form. As well as supporting direct on-screen drawing and handwriting recognition, the system enhances keyboard-less control through gesture recognition tailored to Mac applications with its pen-system (which requires no batteries) capable of 133 position updates per second. The ModBook Digitizer Pen also features 2 programmable side buttons, an eraser and three different types of replaceable pen nibs (Pencil, Studio and Felt) that offer a variety of drawing styles and sensations. The radio-based digitizer technology also enables users to write while their hand is resting on the screen and the pen can be used like a mouse to control the when hovering above the surface of the tablet.
The display screen itself features an anti-reflective coating on the inside for increased light transmission and image brightness and the outside is acid treated to achieve an etched surface to deliver sharp, paper-like writing.
The Modbook also retains the stylistic traits associated with Mac laptops. Aircraft quality magnesium alloy used for both the top shell and the interior display frame and the top shell is plated with chrome over a set of copper and nickel layers for scratch-resistantance and protection against oxidation and is available in standard satin or optional mirror finish. The wide viewing angle LCD panel (Horiz./Vert.: 100°/90° vs. 90°/55°) and iSight camera are also given replaceable covers made from Axiotron's chemically strengthened ForceGlass™. The LCD panel also retains the same resolution (1280x800 pixel) and aspect ratio (113 ppi) of the original MacBook™ display.
The Modbook is also the only portable Mac solution with built-in GPS functionality which is based on the SiRFstarTM III chipset.
The integrated CD/DVD combo drive that can be upgraded to a 8.5 GB DVD burner and other noteable features include built in 802.11 a/b/g/n capabilities, Bluetooth 2.0 and locking points designed into the magnesium top shell.
The Modbook is now on sale in the United States and Canada at an MRP of USD$2,290. Axiotron will showcase the Modbook at the upcoming Macworld Expo 2008 with mini-seminars to be conducted by renowned comic book artist Kody Chamberlain, Emmy award-winning animator Shannon Tindle, award-winning photographer Caesar Lima, acclaimed architectural designer Matthew Brewster and Cal State Fullerton design professor Bryan Cantley.