NEC Showcases Dual-Screen Tablet

While everyone and their mother is rushing to add another processor core to their tablets in the form of the dual-core Tegra 2 chipsets, NEC have thought out the box and added another screen to theirs.

Hardcover tablet?

The device, officially dubbed the NEC LT-W Cloud Communicator, features two 7-inch resistive touchscreens that run at 800x600 and a clamshell hinge, which basically makes it open and close like a book. The tablet runs on Android 2.1 Eclair (NEC say they’re working on a FroYo version) and is powered by an ARM Cortex A8 processor. The tablet also supports USB 2.0, has a speaker and a GPS system, an accelerometer and a 3-megapixel camera at the rear that can be used to record 720p video. Connectivity options include only Wi-Fi and Bluetooth currently, but NEC are saying they’ve left in enough space for 3G receivers to fit into. Apart from this, the Cloud Communicator also supports storage expansion via SDHC cards.

It doesn’t seem like NEC is going to release this tablet directly to consumers, though. All signs point towards them favouring the OEM path. Regardless, this is an awesome idea because this tablet could be used as a book or a newspaper, or to provide context to video or images. Now, if only it had better specs.