Drum-roll please…… Dell Introduces the World’s Thinnest, Lightest 16-Inch Laptop, The Latitude Z

I’m writing this post from San Francisco where we’ve just finished up briefing reporters and bloggers on one of the coolest laptops Dell has ever introduced. And guess what – it’s designed for corporate customers and it’s called the Dell Latitude Z.

Yes, that’s right, while my consumer colleagues are typically all giddy with their latest gadgets, I get to brief the world on a laptop that just about every single design-savvy individual will want but one that your IT department will like as well. A system that is predictable, easy to manage. And now I am the one doing a little jig of excitement because this laptop is very cool.

Of course, there’s been some rumor and speculation about this new system for some time. Robert Scoble got an early peek at it (suggesting he would be throwing away his Mac when it comes out), there’s been some chatter on it over at Notebook Review’s Forum and, as always, our friends at Engadget and Gizmodo couldn’t pass up talking about it. Some secrets are hard to keep.

Before I share more details on the “Z,” let me give you some background on our overall commercial client strategy and how this fits in:

• Stability in our core, mainstream family of products. For example, Latitude E-Family laptops and OptiPlex desktops, with virtues grounded in commonality, image stability and extended lifecycles;
• Choice in innovative, purpose-engineered products designed for specific usage needs. like our Latitude E6400 XFR fully rugged laptop, Latitude 2100 education netbook and even our massively scalable Dell Precision workstations; and finally,
• Efficiency in flexible computing solutions that simplify management, speed up deployment, secure information from data center to desktop and reduce TCO.

With this in mind, we set out to develop another product that falls into our strategy. For many of our customers, their “personal brand” is critical to their success -- entrepreneurs, sales staff, executives, creative agencies, thought leaders and policy makers in higher education, and attorneys, to name just a few. We set out to bring together super svelte design with breakthrough features in a laptop that your IT department will support and manage.

The result: the Latitude Z600 – the thinnest, lightest 16-inch notebook in the world. The design isn’t the only advanced feature -- we’ve gone beyond to introduce several industry firsts such as wireless docking and inductive charging. We're also introducing Latitude ON, a hardware-based feature that allows you the full power of your laptop with the flexibility of your smartphone.

Latitude ON is essentially a motherboard within a motherboard where a separate processor and OS boot into Latitude ON “mode” to provide instant, interactive access to email, contacts, calendar and the Web. And, it hooks into Microsoft Exchange, IMAP, POP and Novell GroupWise email, while delivering battery life that lasts for days, not hours. See Lionel's Latitude ON post for more details.

Note: Click on the images in this post to see larger versions. If you want to see more, check out the Dell Latitude Z set on Flickr. Since there are many details to go through, I’ve listed out the details of the Latitude Z600 into bite-sized pieces. Here we go:

• Half an inch thin, 4.5 pounds with a four-cell battery with a lean, tapered design and soft-touch Black Cherry finish;
• World’s first laptop with optional wireless docking, that relies on a UWB radio for point-to-point communications, and inductive charging, which eliminates the need for power cords by using a dynamic power transfer between system primary stand and secondary module. Both will be available in the coming weeks;
• Dell’s first-of-its-kind EdgeTouch allows users to interact with commonly used applications and media controls through a touch interface that is on the edge of the system’s screen;
• Spacious multi-touch touchpad and silky-touch backlit keyboard;
• High-definition (1600x900) WLED display and two megapixel camera featuring Dell Capture technology that allows users to scan and save business cards to Microsoft Outlook contacts and copy documents;
• Dell FaceAware Lock-Out automatically locks out other users when a user steps away from the laptop;
• Ultra-small power adapter;
• Custom bags by Cole Haan and Timbuk2 designed specifically for the Latitude Z;
• Wireless options include WLAN, Bluetooth, optional 3G WWAN.

The Latitude Z is available starting today in select countries in Europe and Asia, as well as Canada and the U.S., starting at $1,999.

These new products are designed to meet the unique needs of our customers when they are ready to refresh or add to their existing infrastructure. We hope you like what you see. I would love to get your feedback and thoughts.

Check out this video on Latitude Z that will give you a better idea of how all its features work.