Palo Alto, Calif. — Hewlett-Packard has expanded its TouchSmart brand to the notebook category with today’s launch of the HP TouchSmart TX2 notebook, a convertible notebook with multi-touch technology designed specifically for consumers.
Like HP’s TouchSmart desktops, the TX2 features a touchscreen and comes with HPs proprietary software
which offers a variety of touch-related options to help the consumer organize and manipulate digital files including photos, music, video and Web content with the touch of a finger.
“Breezing through Web sites, enjoying photos or video at the tap, a whisk or a pinch of a finger is an entirely new way to enjoy digital content on a notebook PC,” said Ted Clark, HP’s senior VP and general manager, notebook global business unit, personal systems group. “HP is committed to furthering touch innovation and provides users an easier, more natural way to interact with their PC through the introduction of the TouchSmart TX2.”
The company said its multi-touch display can recognize simultaneous input from more than one finger, enabling the use of gestures such as pinching, rotating, arcing, flicking, pressing and dragging, and single and double tapping. An included rechargeable digital ink pen allows the consumer to use the device as a tablet PC, allowing them to write, sketch, draw, take notes or graph directly on the screen and then automatically convert the handwriting into typed text files.
The device features a twist hinge that makes it possible to use the machine in three different position: standard PC mode, display mode (where the screen is upright but faces away from the keyboard) and slate mode (where the screen is flipped all the way around and lays flat atop the keyboard, facing up so the user can write on it).
The TX2 starts at less than 4.5 pounds and has a 12.1-inch diagonal BrightView LED display and an HP Imprint exterior design called “reaction.” The machine has an integrated Web cam and microphone and is powered by the AMD Turion 64 X25 dual-core processor. It comes pre-installed with Windows Vista. The TX2 is available today at a starting price of $1,149.
As the TX2 launches, HP has also announced its plans to expand its partnership with MTV Networks by offering video content from 10 television channels and online brands within HP MediaSmart TV, some of which can be accessed through the MediaSmart software starting in December.
