The World is Going Multitouch: 6 Multitouch Products That are NOT Mobile Phones

As is pretty obvious from all the handheld devices around us, the world is going for multitouch big time now. Any new smartphone that does not have a multitouch screen is being laughed at and mocked (sorry E72). So it was really only a matter of time before other devices started going multitouch. The latest devices to go multitouch are actually pretty diverse. You have a new display from Packard Bell along with new all-in-one PCs from them, a new tablet (not PC) from Wacom and portables from Lenovo and Fujitsu.

So it is official people, the world is going multitouch. After all, I’d much rather use something I can really touch than something I have to virtually poke at with my mouse. I have already covered Asus making a touchscreen netbook and a keyboard PC with a touchscreen. So the lower end of the market is getting some love from Asus. Hop over to the other side for more on these 4 devices.

Wacom Bamboo Tablet

Wacom is a company that is known for making graphic tablets. Graphic tablets are used by digital artists to draw directly on a computer using special pens. They can sense pressure, slant, etc. and hence work great with Photoshop. You just have to see one in action. Considering that that is what Wacom is famous for, this new offering may confuse Wacom followers and newbie’s alike.

The Bamboo is a multitouch tablet that is not an actual graphic tablet. It is instead an input device that is more like the touchpads that are found on your netbooks and notebooks. It can detect a minimum of two fingers and can be used with both Windows 7 and Mac OS X. I am guessing (and hoping) that that also means Snow Leopard.

When I say touchpad of course, I mean that it is like a huge overgrown touchpad that you can use for finger painting on your desktop and notebook. The device was wrapped in (not much) secrecy when it was leaked several days ahead of the company-scheduled release. Not only that, the Best Buy people are already selling it. One of the Best Buy stores also prematurely sold a Zune HD to a contributor of a popular tech blog. Watch the videos below and above to get an idea of what it is like. [Engadget]

Packard Bell’s Viseo 200T and oneTwo

Windows 7 is being associated with the new multitouch devices a lot because it is the first Windows OS that is being advertised by Microsoft for its multitouch capabilities and has been approved by a lot of techies. Vista is still smoldering from all flaming that it received, in comparison.

Packard Bell has been quietly bringing things out. This time it is a multitouch display. There aren’t that many of these things around yet but you can bet that if this goes well, other companies will hasten up their multitouch products. Packard Bell has also introduced their all-in-one range of PCs called oneTwo at this year’s CEDIA.

The display is called the Viseo 200T Touch Edition. It is essentially a 20inch monitor with multitouch abilities with built-in stereo speakers, 50,000:1 contrast ratio (looks like that’s a dynamic contrast ratio). It has a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 5ms responses time. It accepts both VGA and DVI inputs. This gives me a lot of ideas for adapting it into onstage live performances.

The oneTwo range reminds me of Apple’s iMac. It has similar design aesthetics. The oneTwo L has a 23inch display and an Intel Core Quad processor (Q8200), ATI Mobility Radeon, eSATA. The oneTwo M has a 20inch display, a Core 2 Duo processor (T6600) and a lower quality ATI Mobility Radeon.

These systems will carry up to 8GB of RAM and will ship with Windows 7.  These are meant for those places where normal desktops simply won’t fit. Small shops and such places will be a great fit for these systems.

Fujitsu LifeBook T5010

Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 is a multitouch tablet 13inch notebook. It has a multitouch enabled screen that can simply be turned around to be used as a tablet. The main advantage of this form factor is that you get both a physical keyboard and a large touchscreen to get your work done.

This model from Fujitsu does not have a very good battery life and it does not look too good either and it costs a lot at a whopping $1,895! So what’s the catch here? Well, it has a dual-mode screen which acts as both a graphic tablet and capacitive display. When you use your art pen on it, its Wacom graphic tablet capabilities are triggered. And when you use your fingers, you will be greeted with a capacitive touchscreen much like the one on the iPhone.

Along with that, the T5010 has a pretty good configuration – Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz (Penryn Core), 2GB RAM, DVD DL +/- RW, WiFi N, etc. Look out for a full review soon.

Lenovo T400s and X200
Lenovo is known for its great line of ThinkPad business notebooks. This new T400s has all the bells and whistles of your average model – the ever-present trackpoint, a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo processor, enough RAM, 14inch form factor, etc. It is also quite slim, just like the original T400s that I reviewed. The new part is the multitouch display that it  has acquired.

There is also the 128GB SSD storage to sweeten the deal but there is just one pivotal problem here. This T400s’ touchscreen cannot be turned and folded to be used as a tablet. Say what? Yes, you cannot use the T400s multitouch screen as a tablet. Thankfully, the X200 has been announced as a tablet PC. So we are likely to get more usability out of that one. However, if I had the need for a tablet PC right now, I would rather go for the Fujitsu because it is cheaper and has better abilities as a tablet. However, these two are going to get full reviews too. So keep sharp and hit that email subscription button.

People Have Also Been Looking For:

think pad - lenovo thinkpad tablet - packard bell viseo 200t mac - packard bell viseo 200t osx - lenovo tablet thinkpad - packard bell Viseo 200T mac os - Packard Bell Viseo Touch Screen Win XP Treiber - viseo 200t mac os x - Viseo 200 Touch osx - Lenovo Tablet X200 - Packard Bell oneTwo - x200 tablet - thinkpad lenovo tablet - viseo 200 touch mac - Viseo 200 Touch Edition osx - osx Viseo 200 Touch - Packard Bell Viseo 200T Touch Edition mac - PACKARD BELL Viseo 200T TOUCH Mac OS X - packard bell viseo 200t windows xp - Packard Bell Viseo 200T os x - 

This article was posted as The World is Going Multitouch: 6 Multitouch Products That are NOT Mobile Phones at Otaku Gadgets.