Intel's Third Tablet Ready for Back to School Ride

Intel has unveiled the third generation of its low-cost laptop for students, which branches out from the standard clamshell design with a tablet-style option and includes a touch screen.

Introduced at the recent Intel Developer Forum 2008 in San Francisco, the new Classmate PC -- slated for deployment by the end of this year -- is aimed primarily at students worldwide in grades 3-8.

"We spent a lot of time with ethnographers, building this Classmate with students in mind," said Jeff Galinovsky, regional manager for the Classmate PC. "We've been collecting over two years of research to help develop the best PC for students."

Since its initial release in 2007, Intel has developed two prior versions of the Classmate PC: the rugged, camera-equipped, first-generation Classmate, and the Atom processor Classmate introduced in June.

The Atom processor is Intel's smallest chip, built for low power consumption and designed specifically for a new wave of mobile internet devices and simple, low-cost PCs, Intel said.

Like Intel's previous laptops, the new Classmate's design concept will allow for local original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to release versions of the computer with different colors or decorations. Examples of these OEM-branded Classmate PCs include the HCL MiLeap (India), Olidata's JumPC (Italy), FTEC's SmartBook (Malaysia), Neo's eXplore (Philippines), and CTL's 2Go PC (United States).