Intel Classmate PC becomes Toshiba CM1 in Japan

Toshiba and Intel have announced that they're partnering up to deliver the latter's convertible Classmate PC to Japanese youths -- just in time for the new school year. Sporting a 1.66GHz Atom N450 and an overhauled design, this latest iteration of the educational use netbook will start filtering through Nipponese school corridors this August. It packs 160GB of storage room and 2GB of RAM under a nice 1,366 x 768 10.1-inch touchscreen. The latter flips around to facilitate pen input with an included stylus, while the whole package is protected by a well rubberized and ruggedized case. Now if only it had some multitouch and one of those crazy 15-hour batteries, we might have considered going back to school and using it to finish our floristry studies. Full PR


Tokyo, Japan – July 1, 2010 – Toshiba Corporation ("Toshiba") and Intel KK ("Intel") announced today that they will jointly commercialize an educational-use tablet PC designed to facilitate learning in compulsory education. Toshiba will launch the new CM1 tablet PC for educational use in the beginning of August, 2010 in the Japanese market. Going forward, the two companies plan to collaborate in various ways to foster ICT environments in schools.

The CM1 has been specially developed to be commercialized for educational purposes by Intel, which promotes ICT[1] education on a global basis, and by Toshiba, which has technologies and expertise for notebook PCs. The monitor rotates 180 degrees and has a touch screen LCD that supports pen input, allowing students to practice handwriting. The PC also has a handle to make it easy to carry around at school.

With the launch of their new product, Toshiba and Intel plan to promote ICT-supported education in elementary and junior high schools. Intel will use the CM1 tablet PC for its educational programs and demonstrations at schools, for example, to foster such ICT environments.

Note 1. ICT=Information and communication technology

Background of New Product

In recent years, PCs and electronic blackboards have been introduced in elementary and junior high schools to help students take advantage of ICT for enhanced learning. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has set out a policy[2] of providing digital textbooks for all elementary and junior high school students by 2015, so the use of ICT in the education field is expected to increase. In response, Toshiba and Intel have decided to jointly commercialize their tablet PC for education and collaborate on developing ICT environments in the expanding educational field.

Note 2. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "Advancing cooperative educational reform through future schools" in "Vision of ICT Revolution," December 22, 2009.
Outline of New Product: CM1, available from beginning of August (open pricing)

The CM1 tablet PC for education is based on Intel® Learning Series[3] hardware reference design for developing education-use PCs worldwide and Toshiba's notebook PC technologies, such as robust, shock-resistant designs and low power consumption. The new PC's form factor includes a monitor that rotates 180 degrees, a touch screen LCD supporting pen input and a slip-resistant rubber coating for use on school desktops. The CM1 connects with electronic blackboards and projectors wirelessly to enable students both to collaborate and present work. In addition, a handle makes it easy to carry the PC around school.

Efforts to Expand ICT Environment in Schools

Toshiba, together with sales channel, Toshiba Information Equipment Co., Ltd., in addition to developing mobile PCs for education, also provides educational solutions for classrooms designed for PC-based learning and networking. In conjunction with the launch of its new tablet PC for education, Toshiba plans to strengthen its initiative for more effective use of ICT in schools, including through sales of related products and solutions. Toshiba also will operate the Digital Creator School at the Toshiba Science Museum, where students can experience programming as part of the effort to improve IT literacy.

Intel supports the education sector by promoting ICT education through the effective use of PCs. For example, Intel provides the Intel® Teach Program[4] to help teachers become more effective educators, and offers Intel® Learning Series for education. Intel also has launched several initiatives to provide one PC per student at public elementary schools for language and mathematics education. Intel plans to further promote ICT environments to help children acquire the 21st century skills[4] they will need as adults, including ICT, problem-solving, collaboration, critical thinking and communication.

Note 3: Intel® Learning Series comprise hardware, software and content, of which the newly announced tablet PC for education is one example.

Note 4: The Intel® Teach Program, which helps teachers to be more effective educators, has been used to train 35,000 teachers in Japan to date. Through the program, teachers learn how to integrate technology into their lessons to teach student 21st century skills.

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