It's a case of a cross-breed taking on a pedigreed product. Dell's answer to Apple's iPad is a hybrid - part laptop, part tablet, the 10-inch Inspiron Duo is due next week.

CNET reported that the new clamshell Notebook is due on November 23. In this avatar Dell uses Windows 7 powered by a dual-core Atom processor. The distinguishing feature of the tablet is that when the screen is flipped, out comes a QWERTY keypad, transforming the tablet into a notepad. The metamorphosis is seamless and takes only a few seconds.

The hybrid was first spotted in September at the Intel Developer Forum.

Dell's earlier response to Apple's iPad, the Android-based Streak, got lost in description - a smartphone or a tablet. The 5-inch Streak which is slightly bigger than a smartphone and few inches smaller than a tablet recently received its long-awaited Android 2.2 or Froyo update.

However, Dell's new hybrid tablet takes the same route again, keeping users guessing whether its tablet or a notebook.

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