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