Dell launches Latitude XT2 convertible

UNABLE TO CONTAIN itself, Dell has decided to spill the beans and launch its Latitude XT2, multitouch tablet PC a day early.

Just over a year ago, Dell unveiled its first touch-screen convertible tablet, the Latitude XT but, despite a firmware update to Dell's first born, the PC maker has decided it's high time for version two.

The XT2, which comes in either 1.2GHz 9300 or 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 9400 processor flavours and boasts 11 hours and 28 minutes of battery life... but only if you add an optional six-cell battery pack to the one that comes as standard.

Weighing in at 1.64kg and sporting a 12.1 inch WXGA display, the swivelly-screened convertible also comes with memory configurations ranging from 1GB to 5GB of DDR3 RAM and a choice of either 80GB or 120GB hard drive, or a 64GB or 128GB SSD.

Dell says the £1,299 laptop will come with either Vista or XP and has been given additional security features like the company's ControlVault and ControlPoint Security Manager as well as souped-up connectivity thanks to a new LCD-based wireless antenna.

The firm is also waxing lyrical about having added 'rotate' as a multi-touch gesture in addition to pan, scroll and zoom.

Dell notes the XT2 is available in both the UK and US from today and the firm's employees seem to be queuing up for it already.

A Dell spinner was overheard on twitter this morning whining, "I really want one of these new Dell multi-touch tablets. Hey @j*******fran can you approve the request?". µ