Related to the earlier news about Intel Atom Tablets, here’s a slide that went up at Cnet this morning.

And here’s the one that went up at Engadget this morning…

Spot the difference!

I’m guessing Intel made a mistake on the slide and updated it but the question is, does it mean anything?

Update: Ben has already posted some U.S.-related news along with some interesting thoughts on the design. Check out his post here.

Information coming though from a couple of German blogs over the last hour indicate that the Duo is going to launch for 549 Euro with the N550 CPU, 2GB RAM and a Broadcom video accelerator.

Over at NDevil we get hands-on from a press conference. Comparison with the Samsung N350 shows that it’s much bigger and thicker. There’s a video too:

NewGadgetsDe also this one is in German have a video up.  Launch date is said to be within the next four weeks. Obviously this news is from Dells German marketing team.

Our tracking page is here and we’re looking to analyse this one soon. Initial feeling is that it might be too heavy for any consumer-style tablet work and that as a netbook, there are better options. Looks good though!

According to Brooke Crothers from Cnet who cites “industry sources familiar with the launch plans inch, the Dell Duo [tracking page] could launch on November 23rd.

I’m torn between loving and hating the Dell Duo.

For one, I think they have a very interesting take on the convertible form-factor. It’s novel and will definitely get the attention it’s looking for from consumers. I can see people looking at it next to a typical (boring) netbook and opting for the Duo because of its neat design (given that they are similarly priced). The issue is that when the screen is flipped to put the device into slate mode, the user loses access to the trackpad and keyboard.

On the other hand, I’ve long exclaimed my hatred for touchscreen “shells inch that sit on top of Windows. We’ve been using and testing UMPCs for years and this is definitely nothing new. After lots of testing, what have we found? The best UMPCs were those that don’t compromise on controls and then try to make up for it with a poorly designed touchscreen shell. The best ones have usable keyboards and mice intact, and allow users to interact with Windows the way that it was designed to be interacted with using a keyboard and mouse.

Trying to drop a shell on top of Windows 7 and then claiming it a “touchscreen computer inch doesn’t make it useful. Users need to do more than play a slideshow, play a track from their music library, or use some proprietary touchscreen app. They need to be able to control the applications that they use on a daily basis, in an efficient way.

All of this begs the question: will people actually use the touchscreen mode on the Dell Duo? Or will it quickly fade from a neat idea to a rarely used feature?

I have a convertible HP Tablet. I love it and use it as my full time computer. The only time that I utilize the touchscreen is when it’s in slate mode and when I’m using it for digital ink input. I’ve actually disabled the finger touch input because it interferes with the handwriting, and it rarely, if ever, offers any benefit over a mouse and keyboard (remember, we’re talking Windows here).

The issue with the Dell Duo is that it lacks digital ink input (or I should say good digital ink input) because it uses a capacitive touchscreen which is incapable of tracking a pen unless it’s contacting the screen.. For me, this would make the Duo relatively useless in convertible its slate mode.

But different people use computers in different ways. Will users find useful ways to use the Duo in it’s keyboardless and mouseless slate mode? Let’s hear from the readers, how would you use it?

The Duo is looking very very close to production so official specs should be out soon. 1024×600 capacative screen, docking station, N550 Atom CPU and other specs should be confirmed soon. Here’s another video (see a demo of the swivel mechanism) I got of the Duo this afternoon at the Intel AppUp Elements event in San Francisco.

I’m in a session at AppUp Elements with Dell and this is what they just showed us.  Nice trick!

Dell Inspiron Duo details now in the database.

Just shown at IDF. This is going to be available later this year.

The frame spins round to reveal a keyboard. We’ll tray and get more pics soon.

The device is codenamed Sparta but will be called the Inspiron Duo.

Here are the video recordings for the Dell Streak live session I did this evening. Thanks to the people in the chat room who asked questions, answered questions and corrected my errors! We had over 300 people drop in for the session. Note that Ustream playback features often get overloaded in the U.S. afternoon/evening so be patient!

Session 1, 17 mins, includes an overview of the device, specifications and some initial impressions.

Session 2, 50 minutes, includes an overview of the keyboard, browsing, video, music and camera.

More information on the Dell Streak in the information page.

I’ll be hosting 2 live sessions today that I hope you’ll be able to join in on. The first is the MeetMobility Computex Podcast with Sascha and JKK out in Taiwan, myself back in the studio and special guest, Joanna Stern from Engadget joining us from New York. That will start at 1500 CEST (9am New York, 9pm Taipei, other times here.) and you can join in by tuning to MeetMobility.com/live It will be recorded and available later today.

The second event is a live open presentation and Q&A on the Dell Streak. That will start at 2100 CEST (Midday San Francisco, 2000 UK, other times here.)  I don’t have a full retail model but the device I have allows me to show you around the device, demonstrate some features, give you some thoughts and answer your questions. So far the device is living up to all my expectations with the extra bonus that the battery life appears to be better than I thought. Unfortunately JKK can’t join us because he’s still out in Taipei and by the time he gets back to his studio on Wednesday, I’ll be away on another commitment until the week after. We might have a few Streak owners from the UK joining the chat though so it will be the perfect chance to get together to talk about the device from multiple perspectives. Video and chat will be running at Carrypad.com/live. I’ll be bringing the Sony Ericsson X10, Viliv S5 and Archos 5 for comparison. See you there.