New Pen-Based 'Modbook Pro' Tablet Launching in Early Fall

Five and a half years ago, a company by the name of Axiotron unveiled the Modbook, a MacBook that had been converted into a pen-based tablet by repackaging the internals into a new casing to yield the one-piece tablet form factor. Two years later, Axiotron introduced the Modbook Pro based on a similar concept, but delays in delivering its products ultimately led Axiotron to fade away.

Earlier this year, one of Axiotron's founders returned with a new company carrying the Modbook name, and today the company is announcing the new generation of Modbook Pro products.

Built from a unique enclosure conversion kit, the Modbook Pro incorporates and completely encases the original hardware of a new Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-inch base system. Its Wacom digitizer delivers 512 levels of pen pressure sensitivity — more than any other tablet computer on the market. And its ForceGlass screen provides an etched, paper-emulating drawing surface.

The result is a sleek tablet computer run by a powerful Mac base system, with a highly sensitive pen interface and a natural drawing surface, all fused into one device you can take with you and use anywhere.

The Modbook Pro components connect to the original MacBook Pro through one of its two USB 3.0 ports, with the entire assembly being enclosed in a new casing for an integrated OS X-based tablet solution that also supports Windows 7.

The Modbook Pro is scheduled to launch in "early fall 2012", with pricing and retail partners yet to be announced.