TouchSmarter: Touch Screen Gadgets

Review: All-In-One HP PC Not So Touch Smart - Smarthouse

HP has joined the touch bandwagon by releasing a PC that has a touch-sensitive screen, allowing you to use your fingers to scroll through menus and files. But despite looking good on paper, and on TV commercials aired on primetime, the TouchSmart failed to impress us.

Sure, the TouchSmart software is easy to use and can give you a ‘hands-on’ experience while taking a look at photos and videos. But when it came to using the touch screen on Windows Vista, we were plagued with small icons that were hard to press and unresponsive icons that needed to be tapped over and over.

Fortunately, HP has included a wireless keyboard and mouse with the package, making it easier for consumers to use the IQ508a for Windows-based programs.

The unit sports a piano black finish and is on the heavy side as all of its major components are installed behind the touchscreen. Up front, users can find a 22-inch screen, built-in speakers, webcamera, and a ‘Home’ key that automatically launches the TouchSmart function.

MOBIZ: The End of the Mouse device is near

The HP Touchsmart IQ500 is a new experience in computing and home entertainment. Instead of dragging your mouse around, you can directly interact with the computer screen.

You only need to plug in one power cable, leaving your desktop nice and tidy and making it look more like a television than a computer. You still have option to a regular mouse but don’t think you will want to use it after watching the video clip below.

The full potential of this computer will not be usable until the Windows 7 operating system is released. However this is still one amazing machine for those who are looking for a computer and home entertainment system rolled into one.

Hewlett-Packard wants to put you in touch with its latest computers. Quite literally.

The company’s handsome new line of all-in-one TouchSmart PCs makes liberal use of a mouse-keyboard alternative you always have with you: your fingers. You can launch applications, play music, crop photos and handle other tasks, just by pressing against the screen.

The machines went on sale in retail stores last week. HP says early sales are trending above forecasts. The $1,499 TouchSmart IQ506 that I’ve been testing - the more expensive of two new models - may already be difficult to come by, says Vickram Bedi, HP’s product management director for worldwide consumer PCs.

As an all-in-one computer, the entire guts of the machine are stuffed underneath the display. TouchSmart belongs in the company of the Dell XPS One, Gateway One and Apple iMac. But none of the others boasts a touch experience.

Touch computing is not a new concept. It just has never really gone mainstream. HP is one of many manufacturers, for example, making tablet PCs that use a pen in lieu of a mouse or keyboard. They aren’t exactly best sellers. Apple is helping boost the visibility of touch through the iPhone.

Indystar E Technology Gear - Personal Tech News, Video Game Reviews, Gadget Reviews and more from Gannett News Service.

It’s definitely not a mobile pc, but it is a touch PC, so I hope this forum is okay for this.

I work at an Office Depot and we just put our TouchSmart IQ504 on display (the 2nd generation of the TouchSmart) and I though I’d post up my first impressions.

We currently have it set up next to the first generation of TouchSmart and the size difference is amazing. The entire unit is about the same thickness as just the first generation’s screen. It stands on two small feet, but feels very stable. The setup of it is a snap, literally one plug and then a connect button on the mouse or keyboard to get it set up.

In terms of bloatware, I took a quick look at the taskbar. It was definitely not the most compact. I’m sure a couple of them were for the screen and mouse/keyboard, but it could definitely do with some cleaning up.

As for the new touch experience. The computer initially booted into the normal Vista desktop, and I did see the TIP - something I haven’t noticed on the old Touchsmart. The new TouchSmart interface is a huge improvement over the old Touch home. The sliding interface is pretty smooth as long as you don’t do fast movements with your hand. It will pick up quick movements but is a little delayed on the sliding. It seemed almost as though the graphics card wasn’t quite powerful enough to keep up, just a little delay all around on the interface.

IMO if you’re looking for an all-in-one PC as opposed to a tower + monitor combo, then this is a great model. That being said, if you can get by with the standard combo, you’re going to get more performance for the money. The new TouchSmart would definitely make a nice bedroom or hub computer. The large screen combined with thin wireless keyboard would make it excellent in the bedroom as a TV.

HP Touchsmart 2 - Tablet PC and Mobile PC Forums.

I decided to give the virtual keyboard from bgfl.org a try using my Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC. I’d like to see folks with regular laptops do this…

GottaBeMobile : Tablet PC & Mobile PC News & Video Reviews, and Tablet PC Forums.

 This is pretty cool… I wonder if this was inspired by the iPhone app(s) that provide similar functionality.

We have just seen mention of a card based arcade game that Taito has announced entitled The Wheel of Eternity. Details on this are slim at the moment, but it looks to use an MS Surface-like table top, which detects player cards, and their movement and arrangement. Looks pretty nifty, and it make certainly sense to bring this type of technology to arcades.

Who knows, this, or a similar game, may just turn into the next arcade hit, drawing people back into the shrinking number of video game parlors.

MicroPCTalk asks the question: how often do you use a touch screen on a tablet PC?

Like the author of that post, I find myself using touch to navigate, but falling back to keyboard for text entry. Navigating with your finger is just such a natural experience. The issue is that a finger is not an ideal pointing device, and buttons and text on screen is often rather small, so pointing your finger exactly where you want the computer to recognize the touch is often difficult.

This is where some of the work currently going on with multi touch may quickly benefit regular touch applications. What seems to be needed is some logic behind the scenes, which would analyze the finger press, and consider what the user wanted to touch, as opposed to exactly where they touched. For instance, when browsing the web, clicking on a text link is more likely the desired outcome compared to clicking on a plain text word. The PC should realize that and act accordingly, even if the finger touched slightly off of the hyperlink.

A great big thank you to Feroz’s World for posting a walk through of how to build your very own multi touch display table. It can be done in a weekend, and uses pretty standard parts and tools.

 We hope this encourages folks to build the hardware, and then get busy designing great software that will help bring the technology to the mainstream.

Some of the issues surrounding multi touch focus on the useful application of the technology. The hardware seems ready, but seeing examples of compelling uses of the technology is a more daunting task. What about playing games? That is sure to appeal to a mass market. Mitsubishi and their DiamondTouch platform have a video of Warcraft III as played with multi touch.

It sure looks impressive, and entirely useful. Maybe the few video game arcades that are left could jump on this bandwagon.

We mentioned Cozi a few days ago. Just noticed a review of the software (or more specifically, web app) on PC Magazine.

“This is the collaboration application to have for organizing your family life”

We still hope this app gets a touch friendly makeover.