HP has announced the TouchSmart tx2. The laptop will be able to distinguish between voluntary pinching with two fingers and any accidental input. You can also use the bundled stylus to enter data. The tx2’s 12.1-inch screen is fully multi-touched up, but not in the iPhone/iPod touch way. It uses capacitive touch, which enables more accurate input, also brushes and swipes and two-handed gestures. You can use two hands to crop photos for instance.
Some other features are: integrated digital TV tuner, dual core AMD Turion X2 processor and ATI Radeon 3200 graphics. The screen can be twisted and folded all the way around; converting the standard notebook into a tablet PC. With a digital pen you can make notes and your writing will be converted to editable text. The HP TouchSmart tx2 will be available in January 2009 for about $1,150.
[New Launches]
Written by Conner Flynn on November 19th, 2008 with no comments.
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Fujitsu have announced a mobile medical companion, the touchscreen ESPRIMO MA Tablet PC. Fanless, and capable of being entirely sterilized, the ESPRIMO MA has a 10.4-inch display, integrated UMTS 3G and WiFi n, together with barcode and RFID readers. It weighs 1.3kg and has a dual smart card reader for security.
Both thin and fat clients can be specified, depending on the medical environment and infrastructure. The MA uses an Intel Atom processor and has a hot-swap battery bay capable of offering full-day power. As well as the data encryption, there’s also a physical lock which can fix the tablet into its docking station. An integrated digital camera, RFID transponder and Bluetooth round out the specs.
The Fujitsu ESPRIMO MA will be available in Q2 2009. No pricing has been announced, but Fujitsu say to expect “that of a high configuration business notebook”.
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Written by Chris Davies on November 13th, 2008 with no comments.
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The last we saw of Intel’s Classmate Netvertible - aka the CTL 2go tablet - it was a surprise guest at the Intel Developer Forum in August. Several months have passed, and CTL entrusted the guys at Laptop Mag with their only demo unit. It’s still pre-production hardware, particularly when it comes to the physical design, but we can apparently expect to see it on sale in the US come December, priced at $499.
Numbers will be severely limited, however, and so it won’t reach normal retail channels until January 2009 at the earliest. Your money gets you a pretty standard netbook in most areas - 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 60GB hard-drive and WiFi b/g - but of course the main difference is the 8.9-inch convertible touchscreen. This runs at 1024 x 600 resolution and can be used with any stylus or finger (only the former will be supplied); Intel have developed a Quick Launcher app to trigger shortcuts to commonly used apps.
There’s also an accelerometer to flip the screen orientation depending on how you’re holding the 2go tablet, and the handle - though still an unpleasant color - looks to be particularly useful when you’ve twisted it around to slate mode. Laptop Mag are impressed, with the CTL’s durability, accelerometer and responsive touchscreen all earning it bonus points, but we’ll have to wait until the end of the year to find out if production versions are as good.
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Written by Chris Davies on November 6th, 2008 with no comments.
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Notebooks, MacBooks, netbooks, now tablets: Microsoft’s new Windows 7 pre-beta has had another chance to do its thing, this time on Motion Computing’s diminutive LS800 Tablet PC. GottaBeMobile dug out the 8.4-inch touchscreen slate and, paying no heed to its “CPU challenged” 1.2GHz Pentium M processor, did a fresh Windows 7 install. Considering this computer would choke with Vista, to say Windows 7 was a success is an understatement.
Check out the demo video after the cut
The overall system performance rating - a single point - doesn’t initially fill you with confidence, but break that down and it’s only the low “gaming” score that’s undermining the LS800. Processor comes in at 2.7, RAM at 4.1, Graphics at 1.9 and Hard Disk at 3.4.
The proof of the pudding, though, is in the user experience, and the LS800 gets a new lease of life. Near silent running, very sporadic fan use, automatic driver downloads and most of the Windows 7 Ultimate functionality works. Check out their demo video below.
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Written by Chris Davies on November 6th, 2008 with no comments.
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The Fujitsu U820 UMPC (aka the U2010) has finally made it to an official spot on the company website, having cleared the FCC almost three months ago. The 5.6-inch micro-convertible also now has a price: $999 gets you the entry level version, with an Intel Atom Z530 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 60GB 4,200rpm hard-drive and integrated GPS.
Meanwhile $1,299 gets you the upgraded version, with a 120GB 4,200rpm hard-drive. Both models have WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, a 5.6-inch WXGA touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard. There’s also an integrated webcam and fingerprint sensor, plus Fujitsu bundle Microsoft OneNote and Garmin Mobile PC along with the Vista Home Premium OS.
Options include a 64GB SSD (for a whopping $1,100 on top of the base model) and an $80 docking cradle. The standard battery is a 2-cell 2900mAh pack, but Fujitsu are currently offering a free upgrade to the 4-cell 5800mAh pack; buying an additional battery at initial purchase costs $70 or $80 for the 2- or 4-cell respectively.
Sadly there’s no apparent integrated 3G WWAN option, plus no RAM upgrade. Running Vista on just 1GB of RAM might prove to be a pain. The Fujitsu U820 is available to order now.
[Thanks Tim!]
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Written by Chris Davies on November 4th, 2008 with no comments.
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Wacom are planning to deliver capacitive touch panels, similar to that used in the iPhone and iPod touch, in 2009 under the name CapPLUS. Going by the press release, the company is initially planning larger-scale panels than used in the Apple devices, intended for desktop monitors and vertical market equipment such as medical and entertainment. However the CapPLUS specifications confirm that panels from 3-inches to 46-inches will be available.
According to Wacom, their capacitive system - which uses Reversing Ramped Field Capacitive (RRFC) technology - surpasses rival touchscreens in a number of ways. Accuracy problems around the edges of the screen, drifts in calibration and sensitivity to electromagnetic interference have all been bypassed in CapPLUS; it can also be used when wearing surgical or other thin gloves. In addition, a CapPLUS panel can be combined with Wacom’s existing active touchscreen technology offering a choice of finger or stylus control.
The technology could have interesting effects on the Tablet PC and mobile device markets. Currently laptops with capacitive touch panels are rare - the Dell Latitude XT being pretty much the only example - as is seeing larger-scale capacitive panels marketed for individual customers in general. Combining pen and finger input in this way, without having to use a resistive touch panel, could give a huge boost in usability. HP have already confirmed their intention to launch iPhone-style touchscreen technology in notebooks within the next 18-months.
[via GottaBeMobile]
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Written by Chris Davies on November 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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ASUS’ confirmation that their touchscreen Eee PC models are imminent meant that we would have to decide whether “netbook” was a suitable name for a slate-format budget ultraportable device, but what thinking time we had has been cut short with the arrival of the BF Evergreen 7010A. Based around a 7-inch, 800 x 480 touchscreen and running Windows CE, BF Evergreen themselves sidestep the arguments and merely call the tablet a “low cost laptop”; is this one of the first “nettabs” or “netslates”?
Whatever the classification, something we can all agree on is that the specifications are pretty anaemic. Windows CE is thankfully a relatively frugal OS, and all it’s given to play with is a 400MHz Samsung 2440A processor with 128MB of RAM. Storage is a mere 1GB of SLC flash, although there’s a SD/MMC slot supporting up to 4GB cards. Connectivity is also a little sparse, with a single USB 1.1 port (I didn’t think I’d ever have to type that again), an “internet socket” (presumably for wired ethernet) and no sign of wireless connectivity.
What you do get, though, is a 600g ultraportable measuring 210 x 148 x 26.3mm and the ability to use Microsoft Office, Skype, various instant messaging clients and other apps. No word on price, but it looks as though BF Evergreen are searching for a distributor.
[via Pocketables]
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Written by Chris Davies on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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Axiotron, makers of the ModBook Mac Tablet that we were reviewed back in February, are now offering a service to convert any plastic Core 2 Duo MacBook into a pen-enabled slate. The ‘Modservice’ adds a 512-pressure-level Wacom digitizer, glass screen, GPS and chromed display bezel, creating a tablet ideal for graphics professionals and mobile users. It’s cheaper than a brand new Modbook, too, starting at $1,299.
Conversions will begin in November, and will be carried out not by Axiotron themselves but a network of their trained support pros. The new components have a one-year warranty, and Axiotron will soon be offering a warranty extension covering both their and Apple’s hardware in the modified machines.
Unfortunately the offer does not apply to the new Apple MacBook which, with its slick aluminium casing and flush glass display, would make for a very attractive slate. A brand new, pre-modified Axiotron ModBook starts at $2,290.
[via Notebooks]
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Written by Chris Davies on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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