KindleDX Killer
Netbook form factor with two screens
  Can be used like a normal netbook or held like a paper book.  It's smart enough to know how its held and will rotate screens, display a virtual keyboard, change audio speaker configs, etc.
  Aluminum shell for rigidity.
  Can be folded closed like a normal netbook
Two screen LCD
  Uses that OLPC spinoff technology that is viewable in direct sunlight as greyscale.
  Both screens are the same
  Diagonal size: 10" - 12"
  Native resolution of 1366 x 768
  Each has a capacitive touchscreen
Uses a standard 6 or 9 cell user replaceable battery.
Dual Core Low Voltage CPU (Doesn't necessarily need to be an Intel Atom)
Two MEMS gyroscopes are built into each leaf of the netbook
  They are located at the center of the screens, closest to the hinge
  6 Axis reporting  (Unless 3 axis is enough to determine which way it is oriented?)
  Uses USB HID profile.
Stereo speakers built into the side bezels of both leaves.
  If feasible, and inexpensive, stereo speakers are built into the LCDs themselves (such that separate discrete speakers are not necessary)
Microphone built into the leaf containing the motherboard
Two mini trackballs
  One each placed at the far corner of each leaf, on the right side, vertically across from each other, but offset slightly so that they don't touch when the netbook is closed.
  They can be clicked and report key presses or mouse button presses via USB HID profile.
  Programmable as keys or mouse-button presses:  They change to PgUP/PgDN or PgDN/PgUP depending on the orientation of the netbook.
  e.g.: When oriented like a netbook, and trackballs are on the right side, trackball 1 sends PgUP and trackball 2 sends PgDN
  e.g.: When oriented like a netbook, and trackballs are on the left side, trackball 1 sends PgDN and trackball 2 sends PgUP
  e.g.: When oriented like a paper book, with trackballs at the bottom, trackball 1 sends PgDN and trackball 2 sends PgUP
  e.g.: When oriented like a paper book, with trackballs at the top, trackball 1 sends PgUP and trackball 2 sends PgDN
  Trackball orientation is software changeable.  They report movement via a standard USB Mouse HID profile.
4 USB ports
Standard netbook lid closure detector (switch?)
Two user-accessible internal mini-PCIe slots.
  Following is included on a user-changeable mini-PCIe card:
  1) Bluetooth 2.0
  2) WiFi (802.11a/b/g or 802.11n once it's finalized)
  3) GPS (NOT assisted-GPS)
  Unused internal mini PCIe slot.
    Install whatever you'd like in it; e.g. a 3G WWAN (GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WiBro/WiGiG/Wireless Mesh Network/etc.) card.
If feasible, two unused, internal USB headers  (Designed to be a hardware hacker friendly feature)
User-accessible soDIMM RAM slot
User-accessible 2.5" HDD bay.
Gigabit Ethernet jack (with Jumbo Frame support)
HDMI-out slot (version 3?)
Optical (S/P-DIF) audio out port
Standard headphone jack
Standard microphone jack
Standard line-out jack.
NO keyboard
No Optical Drive
No Trackpad
No PCMCIA/ExpressCARD slots
nVidia ION or ION version 2  graphics for 1080P video playback
  Optional slot, with heatsink/heatpipe apparatus and exhaust fan to install a standard MXM-II video adapter.
Bezel at top of upper leaf/bottom of lower leaf needs to be wide enough to be gripped by thumbs.
Place rubber skid strips around periphery of the outer shell to give a good grip when held in the hand
Contains gaskets and optional rubber port plugs that make it lightly water resistant.

All USB HID devices need to have user-replaceable firmware to allow for upgrades/bug fixes/hacks.

Software notes:
The netbook knows its orientation and rotates screens appropriately so that it can be used as:
  1) a normal netbook with the screen flush to the desk working as a keyboard
  2) Like a paper book held in two hands
  Optionally, this can be disabled, and a specific mode, i.e. Netbook or Paper Book, can be selected.
The netbook knows its orientation and assigns speakers to the left or right channels as appropriate:
  1) When oriented like a a normal netbook, with the screen flush to the desk working as a keyboard; speakers on the portion of the netbook that is in the air act as typical Left/Right Channels.  Speakers flush with the desk are disabled.
  2) When oriented like a paper book held in two hands; both speakers on the leaf to the right of the hinge are assigned to the Stereo right channel and both speakers on the other leaf are assigned to the Stereo left channel. 
  Optionally, this can be disabled, and a specific mode, i.e. Netbook or Paper Book, can be selected.
When holding the netbook like a paper book, clicking the mini trackballs allows for left/right navigation of pages (via PgUP/PgDN).
  e.g.: When oriented like a netbook, and to the right, trackball 1sends PgUP and trackball 2 sends PgDN
  e.g.: When oriented like a netbook, and to the left, trackball 1 sends PgDN and trackball 2 sends PgUP
  e.g.: When oriented like a paper book, with trackballs at the bottom, trackball 1 sends PgDN and trackball 2 sends PgUP
  e.g.: When oriented like a paper book, with trackballs at the top, trackball 1 sends PgUP and trackball 2 sends PgDN
  This includes an application that uses screencaptures and page scrolling to identify forward/back navigation buttons in programs and images on websites, moves the mouse pointer, and sends mouse button pressed messages to navigate.  A built-in application wizard helps identify what images/links are used for navigation.  Useful for reading web comics, hardware review sites that force you to wade through multiple pages full of advertisements, etc.
Virtual keyboard
  Virtual keyboard automatically displays when the netbook is in its normal orientation.  It disappears when held like a paper book.
  Wireframe style
  Includes media playback controls - e.g. Fast Foward, Skip Next, Skip Previous, Volume Up, Menu, Mute, etc. - for media players - e.g. VLC, The Core Media Player, XM Play, WiMP, CyberDVD, etc.
  Transparency is selectable from 0% (opaque) to 95% (barely visible) in 5% increments; Defaults to 20% transparency to show things beneath it.
  Keys reverse their colour scheme when touched.
  Optionally plays a sound when keys are touched? (soft click/short, soft tone/etc.)
If the gyroscopes give uninterpretable data regarding which way is down, then the leaf with the motherboard is assumed to be facing down; if only because it's heavier than the other leaf.
A small application, that can optionally display an activity icon in the taskbar, controls the video orientation, Operating System video panel location (above/below or left/right), trackball button output, audio channel output, trackball orientation output (horizontal/vertical), and capacitive touchscreen output (horizontal/vertical).  At boot time, the hardware defaults to normal netbook orientation.

Target markets: Medical practices, students, literature reading enthusiasts, casual netbook users, computer hardware enthusiasts.

Design (C) Paltiel Goldstein
July 2, 2008