Taking on Axiotron, whose MacBook mod impressed us so much in our review last year, Apple has acquired its TabletMac name in the last 12 months, with documents showing the registration request dated November 6th, 2008. The actual transfer date between Axiotron and Apple for the name isn't clear, but with all of the Apple tablet rumors heating up in recent months, it's a tidy little coincidence. [MacRumors]

The new version of the Modbook is made of machined aluminum, finished in black. While its design is clearly not Jon Ive's, the 0.93-inch Modbook Pro is thinner than the Macbook it is based on, and more elegant and straightforward than their previous model.

The new guts include a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia GeForce® 9600M GT graphics, but the most important thing in a tablet computer is the surface itself. At 15.4-inch WXGA display, it is larger than the 12-inch Cintiq Wacom I reviewed and it has something that the Wacom or the original Modbook don't have: It's touch sensing.

The Modbook Pro uses a technology called Synergy Touch, which combines the pressure-pen Wacom system with direct and simultaneous touch input. They don't say if it supports multitouch gestures in Mac OS X or Windows, but the multiple input is great news.

The only bad thing is its price. At $4,999 for the model based on the 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, this thing is prohibitively expensive as far as tablet PCs go. It's not surprising, since they are done by hand—there's a Modservice Pro that will reconvert your MacBook Pro into a Modbook Pro for $3,049—but still hard to justify looking at the alternatives from other PC manufacturers.

Hopefully, Apple will eventually supersize the iPod touch. When they do, I hope they go the other way around and add pressure-sensitive pen input to it. [Axiotron]

Axiotron Launches Modservice, New MacBook-to-Modbook Conversion Service

Innovative service enables customers to transform their existing Apple MacBook into an Axiotron Modbook.

El Segundo, CA (PRWEB) October 28, 2008 — Axiotron® today launched Axiotron Modservice™, a one-of-a-kind service exclusively performed by Axiotron Authorized Service Providers that enables Apple® MacBook® owners to transform their existing computer into an Axiotron Modbook® complete tablet Mac® solution. Order requests for Axiotron Modservice can be placed beginning today at 10 a.m. PDT at http://www.axiotron.com/modservice.

Customers taking advantage of Axiotron Modservice can get a new, full-featured Modbook for as low as $1,299.

The award-winning Modbook's state-of-the-art pen-based digitizer technology gives users drawing and writing functionality along with the ability to manipulate the Mac OS® X operating system environment without a keyboard or mouse. Through Axiotron Modservice, almost any Intel® Core™ 2 Duo-based Apple MacBook computer can be transformed into an Axiotron Modbook.

"Customers have been requesting a program like our Modservice," said Andreas E. Haas, Axiotron's CEO. "There is something intrinsically appealing about the idea of taking your computer and turning it into a new and exciting product like the Modbook."

How to Place an Order Request:

Customers can enter an order request for Axiotron Modservice at http://www.axiotron.com/modservice beginning today at 10 a.m. PDT. No payment is necessary to place an order request. Customers must provide contact information and their Apple MacBook serial number. The website has information to help customers determine if their MacBook is eligible for conversion. Most non-aluminum Intel® Core™ 2 Duo-based MacBooks are eligible.

Order requests are taken on a first come, first served basis. The first Axiotron Modservice conversions will be performed in late November.

How Modservice Works:

In the coming weeks Axiotron will announce an expansion of its U.S. service and support network with the addition of Axiotron Authorized Service Providers who have been trained to be the exclusive providers of Modservice.

Axiotron will forward Modservice order requests to the Axiotron Authorized Service Provider closest to the customer that has openings available to perform the service. This designated service provider will contact customers to verify eligibility of their MacBook, arrange payment and set a service performance date. Customers can also request upgrades to their MacBook base system such as more memory and larger hard drives. Customers with MacBooks running Mac OS X version 10.4 ("Tiger") or earlier will be required to purchase an operating system license for Mac OS X version 10.5 ("Leopard").

Customers are responsible for transporting or shipping their Apple MacBook to their designated service provider, who will provide any necessary shipping instructions. A charge applies for outbound shipping of the completed Modbook if required. Since Axiotron Authorized Service Providers have retail locations, in-store drop-off and pick-up are available.

Every Axiotron Modbook comes with a one-year limited hardware warranty that applies to the Modbook's Axiotron components. Additional warranty options for Modservice will be announced soon.

For more information about Axiotron Modservice and to initiate an order request for the service, customers can visit http://www.axiotron.com/modservice.

About Axiotron:

A high-tech solution hardware manufacturing company and an Apple Premier Developer, Axiotron produces the Modbook, the one and only tablet Mac solution. Following its unique vision of Customizing Your World™, Axiotron is dedicated to becoming a leading high-tech innovator through the conception and development of intriguing digital lifestyle products. In addition, Axiotron offers its product development expertise to companies in need of custom hardware solutions. Founded in January 2005, Axiotron is a publicly traded company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V: AXO) in Toronto, Canada, with headquarters in El Segundo, California.

Axiotron, Modbook, Modservice and Customizing Your World are trademarks or registered trademarks of Axiotron, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Apple, Mac, Mac OS and MacBook are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Intel and Intel Core are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

This news release is based on current expectations and contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and the respective actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties about Axiotron's business are more fully discussed in Axiotron's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at SEDAR. Axiotron assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements.

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Axiotron Corp.

Mark Perlstein

(310) 426-2674

The Pros:
• It's essentially a MacBook. They've taken a Core 2 Duo MacBook with Leopard, replaced the standard screen with a Wacom Penabled Digitizer and even stuck a GPS inside.
• The screen is bright, but matte (not glossy like the new MacBook Pro models), so images are a bit fuzzier than my MacBook Pro.
• Handwriting recognition works well in inkBook (the included app)
• The screen is scratch/fingerprint free and pretty durable

The Cons:
• It's heavier than a standard MacBook, because of its "aircraft grade magnesium alloy", which means it's not quite as portable as you'd like
• The standard digitizer pen is usable, but slightly flimsy
• No keyboard means typing is a pain
• Expensive! $2279 and $2479.
• No way to orient the screen vertically like a clipboard

If you're looking for a touchscreen Apple laptop that lets you actually draw on the screen (similar to the idea of the Wacom Cintiq Jesus reviewed), the ModBook is perfect for you. For $2279 or $2479 (the difference is in CPU speed, slightly more hard drive space, twice the RAM and a double layer DVD drive), you'll be able to get a MacBook and a touchscreen tablet in one—great for traveling cartoonists and caricature artists.

I'm no Photoshop or art expert (obviously), but the ModBook was even better than my current Wacom Bamboo because it allowed me to draw directly on the screen. For an amateur digital tablet user, that's the huge difference between being able to draw something that looks like what it's supposed to look like and an unintelligible blob. The two drawings below are what I whipped up in ArtRage on the ModBook. Bender is a trace, in case you thought I killed Jesus and usurped his talent.

The good news is that the screen works perfectly. It's scratch and fingerprint resistant, durable, bright, but somewhat fuzzy since it's not a glossy screen. The bad news is that it's heavy, and will probably be too heavy for you to walk around like a gym teacher with a clipboard. The white built-in pen that slides into a built-in pen holder is good, but isn't as sturdy as the Wacom pens you're probably used to. It'll take you a few weeks to get used to not hitting either the "right mouse button" or the the on-screen keyboard button when you're drawing.

Speaking of the on-screen keyboard, this is what you're going to be using to type. There is no built-in keyboard. Forget about writing long emails with this thing unless you've got a USB keyboard handy. It's solely for drawing. But, if you really have to write something long or take notes, the handwriting recognition is actually great and fairly accurate. For the times when you're forced to use the keyboard (like in OS dialogues), here are the options you can choose from.

There's also a GPS inside, which gives you the same result as attaching a GPS unit to a regular MacBook. It works, and you can rig it up to do navigation or look up where you are in Google Earth, but it's not a practical GPS device that you can take into the car and drive to grandma's with.

The people who are in the market for a ModBook are people who want to draw and make art with a laptop, but have another computer for their normal email and internet browsing. If you're one of these people, the ModBook is a definite buy. For others who just want a touchscreen MacBook so they can do art sometimes, but rely on a keyboard most of the time and want a regular laptop more often than not, the ModBook isn't quite right, and we recommend a standard Wacom tablet instead. [Macsales]

The pressure-sensitive display feels perfect for SketchBook Pro, as pressing harder draws bolder, thicker lines, just like the now hideously-antiquated analog sketching. But we were more surprised by how fluid it felt to navigate OS X with a stylus. From about half an inch away from the screen, a cursor tracks your position. Opening programs by clicking icons and skimming through iTunes selections never seemed so intuitive, and it makes you realize, wow, OS X is a tablet-ready package without modification. (And then wonder, why the hell does Axiotron need to fill this void, Mr. Jobs?)

Look for a full review of the hardware in the not-so-distant future (that will hopefully give us the opportunity to test the Modbook's GPS capabilities, but for the moment, Axiotron's little Frankencomputer is looking pretty fantastic.

The main draw of the Modbook is the Wacom digitized pen-sensitive LCD slate-style display, which is combined with either a 2.0 GHz or 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a built-in iSight camera and an integrated 24x DVD Combo drive or 8x DVD SuperDrive. We have not tried it out properly yet, but if you have $2,290 saved away for a Macbook tablet, the Modbook maybe the solution to your weighty wallet woes. [Axiotron]

First Look: ModBook [Macworld]

Axiotron [Gizmodo]

Press Release [via Tuaw]