Dell replacing XPS touchpad with touchscreen... or someone, somewhere owns Photoshop

There are two kinds of Dell rumors: sure things, and ones that aren't sure things. This one falls in the latter camp, so proceed with caution. We've got a tipster who says a friend of his from Dell handed him this shot of what is purportedly a new XPS M1330 / M1530 design. As you can see, pretty much the same old fare... but what's this? A large glossy touchpad? Here's our hunch: Dell is tired of drawing inspiration from Apple after the fact, and decided to turn the tables by capitalizing on one of the most persistent (and outlandish) Apple rumors in existence. A good capacitive touchscreen for the trackpad on a laptop would undoubtedly be a blast if it was done right, with the right software support, and at least seems like a good gimmick. Or maybe it'd just be lame. We won't go further than that, this could just as easily be a Photoshop, but we will be keeping an eye out.

Update: False alarm, turns out this is just a still from an NVIDIA Tegra demo on YouTube. Thanks, shiv, for pointing this out in comments. Boo, tipster, boo.

[k2001 @ Aug 31st 2008 9:46PM]

If this is real, it will never make it out of the lab.

[neofolklore @ Sep 1st 2008 3:13PM]

Or engadget is using a play on words, where "owns" photoshop displays the wide gap between people that "have" photoshop

[Coolbee8 @ Aug 31st 2008 9:47PM]

It is not a screen, the guy just happen to...err sweat alot.

[Bryant @ Aug 31st 2008 9:48PM]

I hope it's real. I'm kinda tired of Apple churning everything out and doing nothing of any value with it.

[ethana2 @ Sep 1st 2008 12:36AM]

Depends on whether or not you factor in price.

[loosely_coupled @ Sep 1st 2008 5:48AM]

What does that even mean? Apple is actually the last one to just arbitrarily throw new products out of the R&D lab without following through on it... They've probably held-back more interesting products than most companies of their size have ever created.
In fact, this "churning everything out and doing nothing of value with it" comment actually perfectly describes Microsoft's "strategy" with their dozens of failed half-baked product launches...

[shiv @ Aug 31st 2008 9:49PM]

That picture is from the Nvidia Tegra CPU Demo. It isn't a photoshop but a screen from that video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXYshhuJzh4

[Ray @ Aug 31st 2008 9:57PM]

Foolish engadget, how dare you accuse dell of being innovative!

[computer.dude.28 @ Aug 31st 2008 10:00PM]

Shiv's right. Everything in that picture is explained in this video.. except for the glossy touchpad. Hey, they had to leave something for you guys to argue/wonder about.

[Nik @ Aug 31st 2008 10:01PM]

Absolutely correct.

[nizzy1115 @ Aug 31st 2008 10:16PM]

Good call there

[Brent Summers @ Aug 31st 2008 11:43PM]

I thought i was gonna get rick rolld

[peter @ Aug 31st 2008 9:54PM]

sh!t shiv is right.

[takashisenke @ Aug 31st 2008 9:54PM]

Oh look, now I can play my DS on an XPS.

And, btw, it's "persistent".

[computer.dude.28 @ Aug 31st 2008 10:01PM]

You're right, this would bring DS emulators to a whole new level!

[chris @ Aug 31st 2008 9:58PM]

if this is real, do want!

[edcar57 @ Aug 31st 2008 10:00PM]

I don't see any use for a glass trackpad with a screen. Just a gimmick. Maybe it could be used for vista sideshow, but I don't know anyone who uses that feature. Other than that, a waste of battery life.

The best dell can do with is make it into a mini microsoft surface and add different features. Otherwise, a regular, but larger touchpad is perfect.

[Charlie @ Aug 31st 2008 10:16PM]

I can see a lot of uses for it... Think the Optimus Tactus, but on a smaller scale. Photoshop users would LOVE something like that if they did it right. I mean, add shortcuts for Photoshop or whatever other programs you're using and it'd be great! Custom keypads galore. :-)

'Course, it wouldn't have the same feel as a real touchpad, so they'd have to add some kind of texture to it.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Aug 31st 2008 10:21PM]

I wouldn't say that. As someone who has been worn out many a notebook trackpad I can say that the edges and corners of the trackpad go unused. Having the option for having "hotkeys" as images would be useful and allow me to customize more PF keys. As for the power usage, The trackpad display wouldn't have to be on at all times if you didn't need it and when you did want to conserve power using it instead of your main display would be nice if you just wanted to use it to control something like Audio or check some specific Widget, like if your flight is on time. Plus, we know Dell et al. have already added extra features, like scrolling, to the side of trackpads.

It could even be used when the OS isn't even booted up to save evn more power for Widgets, Audio, RSS, Mail or even a simple Vidio iPod-like device. Sounds too far fetched? Then you've forgotten that these secondary displays have been tried before on the outside of machines and ultimately have failed of some notebooks. They only used a very simple, small monochrome display and therefore wasn't useful.

With Apple's control of their HW and SW from the ground up and their acquisition of P.A. Semi I think this rumour is less far fetched than Engadget gives it credit for.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Aug 31st 2008 10:36PM]

Here is an example of a trackpad that has additional features. The machine is an Asus M70. It's a complete mess of a computer and the trackpad setup looks cheap and is static, but it gives you an example of how it could be done... now imagine a colour display with dynamic usability.

• http://laptoplogic.com/data/reviews/images/221/m70_trackpad.jpg

[Josh @ Aug 31st 2008 10:12PM]

I don't see how this adds any functionality to a computer at all, no one looks at their track pad or mouse when using a computer, nor does anyone want to - our focus is on the screen...

Maybe i am just behind the times though...

[labrats5 @ Aug 31st 2008 10:15PM]

Yes, glass trackpad=gimmick

Wat would NOT be a gimmick would be putting a wacom tablet into the laptop for mobile photoshop a la the thinkpad W700, except integrated into an oversized trackpad that could distinguish pen touch from finger touch so as not to be so ugly. That would be all kinds of awesome.

[gad get @ Aug 31st 2008 10:57PM]

You've got me drooling up a tidal wave!

[Brendan @ Aug 31st 2008 10:16PM]

I actually kinda hope this isn't real... at least in the short term as next week I'm going to be having my boss order me a nice 1530 and I'd oh so hate to have these come out the week after mine arrives!

[Amol @ Aug 31st 2008 10:25PM]

Engadget, why are you so persisten about making spelling mistakes? =(

[jason @ Aug 31st 2008 10:28PM]

o the irony

[Amol @ Aug 31st 2008 10:46PM]

"...the most persisten (and outlandish) Apple rumors in existence...."

See? :P

[Yay. @ Aug 31st 2008 11:08PM]

Oh, the intention.

[Mace Moneta @ Sep 1st 2008 12:02AM]

I've had a glass trackpad with an LCD on my laptop for 7 years now. Toshiba introduced models with the Synaptics cPad, and the 5105-s607 (the model I have) was probably the most innovative machine that Toshiba ever introduced. After that, laptops sort of became commodity items, with no personality.

You can use the LCD on the cPad to display information or as a second screen (monochrome in this case). It even has a software controllable backlight (handy for getting my attention when I display a message on it). I've used the machine every day, and there is no visible wear on the track pad. For that reason alone it's worth it.

I've always wondered why this never caught on. Maybe it was a shortage of displays; they are basically the same touchpads used on PDAs. They are certainly the best input(/output) device I've ever used on a laptop.

[Cory @ Sep 1st 2008 12:08AM]

I had the same model Toshiba with the same monochrome trackpad and it was great! I had it for a few years before the system got a bit long in the tooth, but the screen on mine was amazing (1600x1200 on a laptop LCD) and the trackpad was a nice touch. One of the best PC laptops I've ever owned.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Sep 1st 2008 2:29AM]

Huh? I completely forgot about that. Probably because I never owned one.

I think it didn't catch on because it was monochrome and had very limited resolution. I could be mistaken but I think it's a haptic touch, not capacitance (could be wrong on this).

[Benson @ Sep 1st 2008 4:33PM]

I never had one either, but I'd bet a lot of money it's not haptic. (Go look that word up.) Resistive, probably.

[Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Sep 1st 2008 1:38AM]

I hope the M1330 replacement will be a good Vaio Z competitor, with a 16:9 aspect ratio screen and switchable graphics for starters.

[neoAkira @ Sep 1st 2008 7:27AM]

Shame on Engadget. Seems like getting the story out first was more important than verifying its authenticity

[Chris Macdonald @ Sep 1st 2008 2:33PM]

yeah they really fucked us over didn't they!!
what are we going to do, we're screwed!!

[Wwhat @ Sep 1st 2008 10:10PM]

Someone out there owns photoshop? you mean to say they paid for a copy? wow, you learn new stuff every day.

[Emma @ Sep 1st 2008 10:25PM]

Shame, Engadget. To quote Ray, "Foolish engadget, how dare you accuse dell of being innovative!" They need to think and research before churning out stories. At least they are writing new stories though. Watch AOL with their slide shows are other news stories and you'll know what I mean. They are all recycled.