HP has introduced an upgrade to the 2730p Elitebook aptly named the 2740p.

The 2740p retains exactly the same form as the 2710p and the 2730p with the welcome addition of multi-touch and the new Intel i7 processor.

Cheek out the gottabemobile.com review below:

The upcoming HP Tm2 Tablet replaces the long running Tx series, and it is certainly a massive improvement.

There are several major improvements for the TouchSmart Tm2:

• Wacom digitiser pen – better pen experience in general
• Capacitive multi-touch screen
• Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage – Cooler, quieter, better battery life
• Sleek new design – no optical drive cuts down size and weight
• Much better build quality – in line with the HP Envy series
• Dedicated ATI graphics – one of the only Tablets with this feature.

The Tm2 is still sports a glossy screen and is very much aimed at the consumer, but the move to Intel processors and Wacom Digitizers brings the Tm2 closer to the business market.

MobileTechReview.com HP Tm2 Video Reviews – 3 Parts

We’ll let you know as soon as it becomes available.

Engadget gave the new Fujitsu T4310 a great review, not for its looks, but for its great multi-touch tablet experience with Windows 7.

The key feature for really useful and functional touch Tablet PCs is the inclusion of both the Wacom Active Digitizer Pen and the capacitive touch screen. The T4310 is one of the many new Windows Tablet PCs that include both!

A touch screen on its own makes for a very limited Tablet PC experience.

Navigating web pages and opening programs is a dream with touch under Windows 7. On the other hand handwriting recognition, sketching and note taking are completely impractical with touch.

So the inclusion of the pen gives you both the convenience of touch and the note taking and sketching functionality of the accurate digitizer pen.

Take a look at the Fujitsu Lifebook T4310 in this video below:

We’ve had a great time playing with the new multi-touch Fujitsu T4310 over the summer. The combination of windows 7, Office 2010 (currently in beta) and multi-touch just rocks!

The first Fujitsu tablet to come out with multi-touch was the T4310, and it has now been followed up by the T900, the replacement for the beefy T5010 Tablet PC. Fujitsu continue to innovate with pen and touch computing and are one of the clear leaders in the Tablet PC field.

The following user give a good demonstration of the T4310. Although this user points out a couple of the shortfalls of the product, he still gives it a big thumbs up… And so do we.

Part 2 in particular shows how the capacitive touch screen works with OneNote 2010. It makes navigating your workspace super easy!

You won’t find a better demonstration of the combination of digitiser pen and touch. As you will see in this video, touch nicely augments the functionality of the pen.

Touch does not eliminate the need for the pen however, and as you’ll see a digitizer pen is pretty essential for serious Windows based tablets.

Call us on 03 9012 6602 for more info on Fujitsu Tablet PCs.

There is a lot of anticipation for the release of Windows 7 next month because of the attention that has been given to touch screen support. In particular, people (us included) are excited about that fact that new “Multi-Touch” capabilities are built into windows 7.

Multi-Touch support means that Windows 7 will be able to detect and understand that you have touched the screen in more than one place at a time.

So, what’s the big deal about multi-touch? Well, we’ve seen some pretty cool games like this multi-player air hockey that was displayed by Gizmodo on an HP TouchSmart desktop PC early in the life of Windows 7.

Then there is the potential of finger painting…

iPhone style pinch zoom, rotation and scrolling features are enabled in Windows 7 too. But undoubtedly the real useful applications for multi-touch haven’t been thought of yet.

So before you run out and buy a Tablet PC in anticipation of Multi-Touch, there are some things you should know about touch screen and digitiser technology that you will find in Tablet PCs:

Capacitive Touch Screens

Capacitive touch screens have been on the radar for a while now, most famously on the Apple iPhone. The keys to this technology is that it is very easy to use.

It is able to detect and handle multiple touches at once and you don’t have to press hard either.

Capacitive touch screens use an electrostatic field to determine if contact (e.g. a click) has been made. They rely on the capacitance of your finger to work. So you can’t use your fingernail, a regular stylus, the back of a pen or a chopstick to make it work.

Advantages of capacitive touch screens:

• Supports true “Multi-Touch”
• Very sensitive – requires a very light touch
• Tracks very well for scrolling and panning (like in web browsing).

Disadvantages of capacitive touch screens:

• Generally can’t be used with gloves
• Can’t be used with a stylus
• Light touch makes accidental contact easy
• Overlay hardware degrades screen viewing
• Not pressure sensitive.

Capacitive touch screens are perfect for slate style web browsing, e-reading and games.

Early adopters of capacitive touch on the Tablet PC front were the Motion LE1700 multi-touch (Multi-touch version discontinued), the HP TouchSmart Tx2 and the Dell Latitude XT and XT2.

The biggest maker of active digitizer Wacom has now released a combination capacitive touch screen and active digitizer combination. On the back of that, Fujitsu has announced that several future versions of its Tablet PCs will include these capacitive multi-touch screens.

An upcoming version of the Lenovo X200T will include the Wacom capacitive multi-touch screen. Buyers beware that although the current X200T is labelled multi-touch, it is not multi-touch in the true sense. Lenovo’s confusing multi-touch label refers to the fact that some of its tablets have both an active digitiser and a resistive (singe touch) touch screen.

Go here for a list of Tablet PCs that include capacitive touch screens:

Resistive Touch Screens

Resistive touch screens have been in the mainstream for much longer than capacitive touch screen. Most current PDAs, UMPCs and touch screen phones used resistive touch screens, usually combined with a stylus.

Advantages of resistive touch screens:

• Relatively inexpensive (compared to active digitizers)
• Works with stylus or gloves
• Reliable and durable
• Good for basic data collection and basic input
• Ideal for touch specific applications like Point of Sale (POS).

Disadvantages of resistive touch screens:

• Does not support multi-touch features (There is some evidence that it may be possible, but it is not likely to be as smooth or useful as on a capacitive interface)
• Overlay hardware degrades screen viewing
• Requires harder contact to make it work – increases the chance of missed input
• Generally not great for scrolling smoothly
• Not pressure sensitive.

Resistive touch screens are perfectly suited to commercial applications that are designed specifically for touch input.

A good example of this is Point of Sale (i.e. big clear buttons). In many cases, resistive touch screens are used in conjunction with a stylus as cheaper alternatives to active digitisers.

Active Digitizers

Active digitizers have been around for years in the form of drafting and graphics tablets. Active digitizers are faster, more accurate and much more responsive than touch screens.

The Microsoft Windows based Tablet PC was born from the combination of an Wacom active digitizers and LCD screens. They are able to handle finely controlled input making them ideal for running windows. They are also pressure sensitive which adds significantly to the input experience.

Advantages of active digitizers:

• Fast, accurate and responsive
• Minimal reduction in screen viewing
• Ideal for fine input applications like handwriting and sketching.
• Offers fine pressure sensitivity (and sometimes tilt-sensitivity).

Disadvantages of active digitizers:

• Requires a specific and relatively expensive pen (usually from AU$50 – AU$100)
• Hardware is still expensive
• In many situations, having to hunt down a pen is less convenient and slower than poking with your finger.

Active digitisers are perfect for handwriting input, sketching, digital design and generally working with Microsoft Windows (of all versions).

Summary

Touch screens of all types are convenient but do not work well for handwriting or fine input applications (like running Windows). An active digitiser is far more useful for general Windows use. 

Fortunately there is a host of new touch screen Tablet PCs on the way that include both a pressure sensitive active digitizer and capacitive touch. This is by far the best option for a Windows based Tablet PC. You get the convenience and coolness of multi-touch and the accuracy and performance of the active digitiser pen – the best of both worlds.

Ultimately there is an important place for each of these input technologies. Talk to the experts first and be sure that you are choosing the right one.

We finally got around to reviewing the multi-touch HP Tx2! The Tx2 has been a very popular Tablet PC and it is introducing many newcomers to the wonders of touch computing.

The HP Tx2 is a great way to get into Tablet PCs for a very good price. While most full sized 12” Tablet PCs are selling for over AU$3000, the Tx2 is under $2000.

Best of all, it’s packed with goodies like the iPhone style multi-touch capacitive touch screen.

We’re looking forward to trying out Windows 7 on this machine! Roll on Tablet PC air-hockey and finger painting.

The out of the box experience of multi-touch in Windows Vista will be limited to third party software at this stage, but Windows 7 takes multi-touch the whole nine yards.

The following demos from Gizmodo are of the HP TouchSmart desktop PC, but you can expect the same experience from the HP TouchSmart Tx2.

Windows 7 Touch and Multitouch on HP TouchSmart PC from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

As you can see, the multi-touch experience is built into the system from the ground up… it’s even in good ol’ paint.

Multitouch Air Hockey in Windows 7 on a TouchSmart PC from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

Air Hockey on a Tablet PC! Now that will be something special! We’re excited just thinking about the possibilities of multi-digit, multi-hand and multi-user interaction…

I keep getting asked about iPhone style multi-touch features on Tablet PCs. I personally love the idea of multi-touch. I think that after 27 years of the PC mouse, it’s high time that we graduated from a single point interface.

Current Tablet PC hardware does not support multi-touch in the iPhone sense. There are a number of Tablet PCs that support both Pen and Touch input, but only via one point at a time.

Does multi-touch make you think of scene in the Minority Report with Tom Cruise? An interface like that would have all sorts of un-dreamed of practical applications. Most technically inclined folks are aware of the experiments of the Microsoft Surface team. They have been demonstrating prototypes of this Minority Report style interface for a while now, so we know that this will ultimately become a reality.

The good news is that multi-point/multi-touch will probably reach the Tablet PC before it hits your desktop (or window, or wall for that matter). In fact the video below by a company called JazzMutant is a Tablet PC hardware demonstration on Windows XP that was posted to Youtube last year.

The demonstration uses both Pen and touch input, and it’s quite smart about giving the pen precedence over touch. That will make for an awesome input system.

I would hope that we will see hardware like this on the next generation of Tablet PCs in 12-18 months.