US Mobile Industry

Just so you know, the Touch Book was announced a year ago and began shipping in September. I've had mine since late October, having pre-ordered it last March or April. It's an interesting tool, but it's not without problems.

This is not for technophobes. You'll have to spend some time, most likely, fiddling with the programming, and you'll have to update the OS every couple of months. But that's also a good thing — the folks at Always Innovating live up to their name. They've been very responsive to my e-mailed troubles, and the device improves with each update.

The battery life isn't all it's said to be. And I've found that charging the base while attached to the tablet does not charge the tablet battery, which leads to shutdowns when detaching the tablet.

It's worth the reasonable price, but it's not entirely reliable yet. I don't regret buying it, but I'm hoping it continues to improve before it's outdone by a competitor or AI goes out of business.

Excellent to hear from an actual user! I did notice that some of his videos are dated last year, but last night was the first time I'd head of the Touch Book. I also thought it was strange that there was a press release posted for March 2nd of their site Feb 28th.

I'm quite excited about the ability to run different OS's easily. I'm not expecting it to be all roses, but I do hope it's easier than using a bare BeagleBoard for experimenting.

I wouldn't mind if a competitor made a better/cheaper product. That'd get me even more excited! : )

Yasiejko, what are you doing with your Touch Book? Have you published any reviews that I can link to? Thanks for posting!

I haven't used the accelerometer much for games — the preloaded ones aren't very impressive, and you still can't download iPhone apps, which was an early selling point. I've used it to watch videos. You can invert it like a picture frame on a stand and watch whatever. The latest update, for some reason, doesn't provide the Hulu search function that I enjoyed. I imagine they're going to fix that soon.

I like using the tablet on the fridge while cooking. That's the best use of the magnets — reading recipes or watching cooking videos while in the kitchen.

The choices of OSs are a bit confusing for me. I'm not sure which is best, and I'm wary of switching constantly. I'd love to hear your suggestions. I'm hoping that one of them can handle Skype. That'd make it a wonderful tool — imagine having this quiet little machine and using it as a phone. No camera, though, so video chat is out unless you plug it in separately.

Note that two of the four interior USB ports are taken by the Wifi and Bluetooth dongles. Otherwise, it's useful to plug in a thumbdrive for portability and extra space.

I haven't written a review, but I feel like I have — I have a Touch Book Google alert and keep up with the news as best I can. Definitely visit the forums linked to on the AI site. They're very helpful, and it's a good community of helpful people.

its looking interesting