Hewlett-Packard launched a variety of new PCs and computing devices today, featuring market-leading touchscreen technology. The new offerings include three all-in-one PCs — the TouchSmart 300, TouchSmart 600, and the TouchSmart 9100 Business PC — plus the TouchSmart tx2 notebook; and, the LD4200tm 42-inch widescreen monitor.
The new PCs offer a long list of built-in touch-based applications, including a Hulu Desktop, a touch-enabled Netflix app, Twitter, the Rhapsody-based HP Music Store, Pandora Internet radio, the TouchSmart Recipe Box, TouchSmart Live TV, and the TouchSmart Canvas and TouchSmart Link photo applications.
HP said the TouchSmart 9100 offers a Digital Visual Interface (DVI) for connecting to full HD format displays and projectors, 32- or 64-bit versions of Windows 7, two NVIDIA graphics choices, FireWire and a variety of other options.
The tx2 is the first consumer notebook to enable two-finger navigation of entertainment applications, HP said. The notebook offers many of the same features as the desktops and adds touch-enabled games and a Corel art application.
The LD4200tm, which will not be available until December, is a black signage device designed to bring touchscreen functionality to kiosks, retail environments, malls, terminals and similar locations, according to the company.
Touchscreen Easier with Windows 7
Steve Baker, vice president of industry analysis for The NPD Group, said touchscreens are going to be a hot topic going forward. “I do think that touch is the wave of the future, especially in the last few months of this year and in 2010,” he said.
The key theme through the announcements is the idea that Windows 7 will make touchscreens more feasible. In the Windows XP or Vista environments, Baker said, touch functionality was “bolted” on by OEM or VARs. “The integration into the OS saves the OEMs [and VARs] lots of money in terms of programming and makes it easier,” he…