Toshiba and Intel have announced a collaborative project to get a new tablet computer into Japanese schools. The Atom-powered CM1 notebook/tablet will have a rotating touchscreen display, and feature wireless connectivity to electronic blackboards and classroom projectors.

Available from August to a Japanese market, the release of the CM1 is in response to a policy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which aims to provide digital textbooks for all elementary and junior high school students by 2015. The educational tablet computer combines Intel's Learning Series hardware reference design and Toshiba's expertise in creating portable low power, rugged solutions. It packs an Intel 1.66GHz Atom N450 processor, a 160GB HDD and 2GB of memory.

The CM1 packs a 10.1 inch resolution touchscreen display that rotates 180 degrees to fold flat over the keyboard, so that users can both type and touch

Its 10.1 inch, 1366 x 768 resolution touchscreen display supports pen/stylus input and rotates 180 degrees to fold flat over the keyboard, so that users can both type and touch. There's 802.11a/b/g/n as well as ethernet, rotary webcam and a couple of USB ports. Its enclosed in a slip-resistant rubber coating and runs on Windows 7 32-bit Professional edition.