HP gets hot on touchscreen technology, plans array of finger-friendly gear

In case you haven't noticed, HP has a thing for attempting (emphasis on attempting) to stay one step ahead of the sector. Now, it's being reported that touch technology is all the rage within Palo Alto, and HP is purportedly aiming to introduce "an array of products, including notebooks," that utilize the finger-friendly tech within the next 18 months. Details on those very products are few and far between, but Phil McKinney (CTO of the Personal Systems Group) sees touch "as the almost preferred method for nontechnical users." Funny thing, though -- it seems most everyone else recognized touch as the new hotness a good while back. We're betting HP has just been holding all of this mighty close to the chest... guess we'll see in 18 months, huh?

[Image courtesy of Old-Computers]

[Metkis @ Aug 6th 2008 8:41AM]

Firs..... Ahem excuse me. I was never a fan of HP, but looks interesting!

[KilgoreTrout @ Aug 6th 2008 9:07AM]

Yeah, about as interesting as you.

[Metkis @ Aug 6th 2008 9:26AM]

So? Exponentially interesting!

[Zadillo @ Aug 6th 2008 8:42AM]

Hasn't HP already been "hot" on touchscreen technology, between the Touchsmart all-in-one desktop unit and their tx2000 consume touchscreen laptop?

[Zadillo @ Aug 6th 2008 8:45AM]

Chris, I know you're just spamming your site, but the funny thing is (and I'm a big Apple fan) that HP is doing more with touchscreen stuff than Apple is. Apple has still restricted their efforts to the iPhone and iPod, while HP already has the Touchsmart available as a consumer product.

Personally I'm not completely sold on touch for a desktop (touch screens combined with digitizers like the HP tx2000 consumer laptop I can see some more practical uses for), but it seems silly to say "HP will never take on Apple" as they already are.

[Mahapralaya @ Aug 6th 2008 9:10AM]

HP should focus on giving us a touchsmart with actual useable video connections...no HDMI...no DVI....no VGA....fail

[Michael Witt @ Aug 6th 2008 10:45AM]

Explain to me how adding a video connection to a touchscreen PC is a good idea. The external monitor won't be touch, so it doesn't make sense. Besides, the touchsmart PC I've used has a nice big screen anyways.

You fail.

[Mahapralaya @ Aug 6th 2008 5:42PM]

I wanted to buy one of them to replace the TV and PC I had in one room, but the need to connect several outside video sources (PS3, X360 etc) which require digital/HD connections prevented me from dropping the cash on a PC I was excited for. Therefore I repeat...touchsmart....FAIL.

[Michael @ Aug 7th 2008 5:53PM]

So you're looking for those connections as inputs? Fine, despite your miscommunication.

You want to use it in some way for which it was not designed, which has a screen too dim to be used at more than about 2-3 feet. The brightness of the touchscreen LCD is only about 300-450 nits, whereas the brightness of a TV is closer to 1500-2000 nits (which is why the two are so different); and why there is a recommended maximum distance on a LCD monitor, and a recommended minimum distance on a LCD TV. (Remember that the luminosity of a light source drops off at a rate proportional to the square of the distance from the light source)

You still fail.

[letstakeawalk @ Aug 6th 2008 9:18AM]

That's funny, my iPaq 1935 from 2003 has a touch screen. Still works great as a PDA and PMP. HP's been in the game for a while already...

[Daniel Cormier @ Aug 6th 2008 9:21AM]

They need to figure out a better technology to use for their laptop touchscreens. I was looking at some of their laptops on display a could weeks ago and the touchscreen versions looked very grainy from the extra layer of circuitry on the display. The non-touchscreen versions looked great.

[Nick @ Aug 6th 2008 9:35AM]

Little bias there crapgadget damn.

I love my IQ506t. My wife actually played with it in the store the other day and decided to just bring one home.

[salbucks @ Aug 6th 2008 9:36AM]

What makes me laugh is that the first iteration of the TouchSmart computer came out way before the iPhone (actually almost a full year and a half before), and was speculated to have been in development for a very long time. This is due to the fact of how it coordinates X,Y locations on the screen. Unlike the iPhone and the tx1000/2000 series, there is not a permeable membrane to retain direction of input coordinates; instead there are sensors placed all around the edges to acquire specific coordinates without having to dealing with a permeable (touch sensitive) screen that can degrade over time. Any who, I totally respect Apple, and the iPhone is a great device - personally I don't like the response and keyboard input. But already in its 2nd generation it blows away a lot of companies that have been doing this for years – and credit must be given when due. As far as the computer market is concerned - it's hard to compare an iPhone to a touchscreen desktop/notebook, due to one factor, cost. It would cost a fortune for Apple to put the same technology from the iPhone on one of their iMacs or laptops – theoretically. That is one reason why I think the 22” HP TouchSmart is so inexpensive, it uses a completely different input. Great discussion though.

[Ed T @ Aug 6th 2008 9:48AM]

HP intoduced a touchscreen computer in 1983 -- it was an abismal failure. Touchscreen laptops? Yeah, glossy LCDs and greasy fingers are a great combination. Maybe they'll sell a USB powered cleaning cloth as an accessory.

[Bosco @ Aug 6th 2008 11:15AM]

That's not quite true. The HP 150 with its 8" screen was a hit with secretaries compared to the IBM PC with a 12" screen. Perplexed, IBM conducted a study and found that the secretaries would rather touch 8 inches than look at 12.

[Ed T @ Aug 6th 2008 1:01PM]

IIRC, HP recommended using a pencil (the eraser end) to touch the screen on the HP150 because it matched the resolution of the IR sensors in the surrounding bezel. They ditched the IR/LED matrix for some kind of camera in the new version of Touchsmart, but I just don't see how it could match the resolution of surface sensors. Without resolution the display inputs will be sloppy and people will have to resort to mouse inputs for detailed work.

Does it make any sense to have a big touch screen if 50% of the inputs end up being made by mouse? Latency is another issue with these displays because they rely too much on Microsoft's crude APIs. Windows is notorious for poor latency when it gets loaded down running many tasks. Look at the review demos of TouchSmart and you will see users tapping away at the screen trying to get a response for even simple selections.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Aug 6th 2008 9:48AM]

I'll give HP my finger anytime.

Although I enjoy the HP Touch-Screen commercials immensely, I really think that it's not all that practical to be waving your arms and hands constantly, swiping at the screen. It really involves too much motion. That's why in many cases a good trackpad with acceleration is preferable since it only involves a little bit of wrist and finger action. Full Touch-Screen makes it look like you're directing an orchestra. Good luck with HP trying to take out Apple with that T-S technology.

[fred @ Aug 6th 2008 10:26AM]

Please, just stop.

When Apple does their own version of the TouchSmart, Im more than sure that you will pretend like you've never said any of this.

Then again, you are Steffen Jobbs, so I doubt your post was meant to be anything of substance anyway.

[ChrisMizzleInfo @ Aug 6th 2008 2:04PM]

oh man, i was just thinking the same thing.
IF apple did this first it would be touted as 'revolutionary'
and have chich beautiful people dancing with in their hands playing U2 with a bright mosaic of colors behind them.
Im actually surprised HP beat the fruit to the punch with a mainstream desktop launch like this.
Good work guys.

[Xenoterranos @ Aug 6th 2008 9:57AM]

I tried that one HP touch screen at Best Buy. In all of 3 minutes I had a case of gorilla arm, so yeah I can't exactly see using that for something like photoshop where it might be useful. But if you lay it on it's back and inset it into a coffee table...
(the chess game was actually very entertaining. It felt discongruous playing it vertically, but still having to touching the pieces. Very satisfying though)

[fred @ Aug 6th 2008 10:23AM]

Well....That's why you still have a mouse and keyboard that comes with it.

[Daza @ Aug 6th 2008 9:57AM]

I was playing with a HP Touchsmart that we just set up at work today, and it's really impressive. The touch is quite precise and the Touchsmart interface is very shmick looking indeed. People think touch interfaces are big in mobile phones, just wait until you see them break into mainstream desktops. Microsoft and HP know exactly where the future lies, and I do too after playing with the Touchsmart today.

It's definitely a few years away from mass adoption, but touch screens are going to be a huge part of how we interact with computers in the coming years. They're not going to replace keyboards and mice, but they're going to add a lot more interactivity to computing.

[Mister Tibbs @ Aug 6th 2008 11:29AM]

I want my LCARs!!!

[ChrisMizzleInfo @ Aug 6th 2008 2:08PM]

AH MAN! you went there.
and i love you for it.
Actually they have a mod for both XP, and one being made for Vista that completely mods the system to look and feel like LCARS, that includes the voice recognition!
So your dreams of saying "computer, open iTunes" are very near into being.

[ShadowKain @ Aug 6th 2008 11:46AM]

Note to HP:

Release "Missle Command : Super HP Touch Edition" and I will love you forever XD