Come Wednesday and Panasonic will officially update its rugged laptop line up with a new mini rugged notebook with touch-sensitive screen. The un-named UMPC is powered by the latest Intel Centrino Atom processor and is equipped with a 5.6-inch touchscreen display. Also, the ultra mobile PC boast of a compact QWERTY keyboard that's been split in half with a number pad filling up the center. Reportedly, "the letter keys were divided to make them all within reach of the user's thumbs so its possible to hold the machine and type." I think it's a good idea to divide the keypad into half, with letter keys occupying left/right area and numeric keys occupying center part as in that case it would be really easy to type. It would really make typing faster. What's more, the various sockets of the machine are covered with a rubber hood to keep water and dust from getting into the computer. Wait until Wednesday to get detailed specification.
[Via PC Advisor]