Acer have announced their first touchscreen notebook, the Acer Aspire AS5738PG-6306, complete with Windows 7 and a 15.6-inch 1,366 x 768 multitouch-capable display. The AS5738PG supports one- or two-finger gestures on the screen, such as pinch-zoom, and is based on Intel’s 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo T6600 processor with 4GB of DDR2 memory and ATI Radeon HD 4570 512MB graphics.
HP have gone touch-crazy in the run-up to Windows 7’s release, pushing out several new touch-sensitive products including a 42-inch widescreen LCD. The HP TouchSmart tx2 updates the original convertible tx2, and has a 12.1-inch capacitive touchscreen which also accepts stylus input; meanwhile there are two new TouchSmart desktop ranges, in the shape of the consumer-oriented HP TouchSmart 300 and 600 – at 20- and 23-inches respectively – and the business-centric HP TouchSmart 9100, a 23-inch model targeted at the hospitality and retail markets.
We’re just a few weeks away from the formal launch of Windows 7 and I’ve been using the final build for some time now. It’s very nice and I’m sure most of you have seen it, used it or read about it to death. What I want to talk about over the next few weeks is various parts of Windows 7. One of the most intriguing parts of the new OS that Microsoft has talked about for some time has been the integration of touch features. While vendors such as HP have done their own touch implementations in the past (HP has gone as far as to offer their own touch-based SDK for developers) this is the first time since Microsoft unveiled their touch platform offering, Surface, that we’ve seen the OS vendor incorporate true finger-touch features directly into the OS.
If you’re looking for inflammatory speech, search no more: everybody’s favorite bearded-uncle of tech, Walt Mossberg, has well and truly rammed his metaphorical review-poker into the flames of the Windows/Mac argument. In his review of Windows 7 for All Things D, Mossberg confesses that while “In recent years, I, like many other reviewers, have argued that Apple’s Mac OS X operating system is much better than Windows. That’s no longer true.”
Nonetheless, Mossberg is still leaning toward Apple overall, going to to confirm that “I still give the Mac OS a slight edge because it has a much easier and cheaper upgrade path; more built-in software programs; and far less vulnerability to viruses and other malicious software, which are overwhelmingly built to run on Windows.” Still, he confirms that “Now, however, it’s much more of a toss-up between the two rivals.”
Kohjinsha’s dinky swivel-screened MID, the PA-series, isn’t the only unusual rotation happening on the company’s stand at CEATEC. They’re also showing off this dual-screen beast, currently in prototype form, packing twin 10.1-inch LCDs for some mobile widescreen action. SlashGear Japan stopped by to grab some live photos for us.
“Touch me, touch me” sang 80s legend Samantha Fox, “I want to feel your body,” and while the intentions of Sony’s new VAIO L Series of touchscreen desktops may be different, the sentiment is just the same. Announced alongside the skinny VAIO X, the L Series is being pushed – like other big-screen all-in-one PCs in Sony’s past – as a hybrid HDTV and computer, though with its 24-inch 1920 x 1080 display, optional Blu-ray and optional TV tuners we suppose it does have more of a claim than most. As for the touchscreen, that’s used not only for Windows 7’s multitouch functionality but to control Sony’s own Media Gallery DVR app.
Windows 7 is due to launch in just two weeks time, but Microsoft have been working on its immediate and distant successors for some time now. Details about so-called Windows 8 and Windows 9 (perhaps unlikely to be their real release titles) have emerged thanks to a LinkedIn profile of one of the team members involved. According to that developer, Robert Morgan, Windows 8 and 9 will both have some degree of 128-bit architecture compatibility, with the latter OS definitely supporting IA-128.
The wait for Windows 7 is almost over and those who have been anxiously anticipating the new OS hitting the market so they can upgrade from Windows XP or Vista may now be wondering exactly what the easiest way to upgrade their computers will be without losing their important data. Belkin has announced a new Easy Transfer Cable for Windows 7 that will make the transition easier.
If Acer’s Aspire 1410T (aka the Timeline 1810T) took your fancy but you’re a multitouch convert, how about a convertible tablet version of the same ultraportable notebook? macles have spotted the Acer Aspire Timeline 1820T, ostensibly the same 11.6-inch 1,366 x 768 notebook with an Intel CULV 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo SU3500 processor and 2GB of RAM, but gaining a rotating screen hinge and a multitouch-capable touchscreen.
LBook have been quietly selling ebook devices for a while now, but the company is hoping to make a splash into the multitouch tablet market next year with their T9. The LBook T9 is an Intel Atom-based 8.9-inch slate running Windows 7, and is tipped to arrive in March 2010 with a price tag in the $350 to $375 region. If they can pull that off, it’s an excellent price for a 12.7mm-thick sofa surfer.
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