Rumor: Intel readies Medfield tablet for education market

Jos

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Intel is set to expand its education-oriented efforts with a Medfield-based tablet codenamed the StoryBook PC, according to DigiTimes. Details of the device are scant. The site's unnamed sources only mention it's intended for emerging markets such as China and Brazil, and that the tablet will feature a 10-inch panel and as well as dual-operating systems -- presumably Android and Windows.

Intel's Classmate PC project has been around for roughly 5 years and that has reportedly helped the chipmaker establish partnerships with numerous emerging countries. The company recently secured orders for 158,000 units of the tiny notebooks featuring Atom N2600 and Windows 7 for Argentina. Expanding their existing partnerships onto the tablet space sounds like a reasonable move. Intel also has close ties with OEMs building the Classmate PC and will apparently appoint two of them -- ECS and Malata -- to work on the new project.

Lastly, although education is the primary focus, DigiTimes claims that a commercial version of the StoryBook with a target sticker-price of sub-$299 might be in the cards as well. Of course, we expect the hardware inside this tablet to reflect its budget pricing, and with Amazon already selling the Kindle Fire for just $200, Intel might have a hard time getting the StoryBook into consumers' hands.

Besides its move into the education markets in emerging countries, Intel is also aggressively pushing Medfield as an alternative to ARM-based chips in consumer devices elsewhere, and has already secured design wins with handset manufacturers such as Lenovo and ZTE.

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