Dell has a multi-touch monitor in the pipeline
Engadget has cracked open the Dell site to find documentation on a 21.5″ 1920 x 1080 touchscreen monitor and, yes, it is multi-touch capable.
The SX2210T is rocking many of the same specs as the touchless SX2210, including HDMI, DVI, 2 megapixel webcam and microphone, but has lost a few USB ports, presumably to make room for the touchscreen technology. The tech support article for the touch technology specifies it relies on the touch support in Windows 7. A USB connection is required for touch, in addition to the video connection.
The monitor is tilt-adjustable, but I’m guessing not enough to make it a decent alternative for Microsoft Surface or a multi-touch Cintiq. Still, I’m sure some enterprising person could come up with a mounting solution to make it more useful.
About the Author: A pioneer in the field of ink blogging, Sumocat works diligently to promote digital ink and Tablet PCs, earning him a Microsoft MVP award for Tablet PCs in 2008. He also champions the cause of mobile computing in general, dabbing in various forms of mobile blogging as part of an ever-evolving experiment in the field.
Tim | Oct 20, 2009 | Reply
As you said, without a real mounting solution (ie flatmounted on wall, some pivoting hinge, etc), all these multitouch desktops/monitors become what I forsee as touch computing’s worst nightmare: A gimmick.
Let’s face it, nobody really plans to do the brunt of their computer work by holding their arms up to a screen. The ergonomics of it are incredibly terrible, and since every utility is designed around the mouse, touch becomes this secondary surplus interface.
I’m all for the spread of touch computing, and in fact I do believe it should be secondary (the convertible Tablet-PC is my favorite form factor, bar none) to keyboard for most computer use simply because we use keys to do almost everything with the computer, touch just adds that incredible layer of versatility, those infinite possibilities that a keyboard can’t offer without being incredibly long.
These machines that are dropping now are all being hyped as multi-touch desktops (you can lump the monitors in here, since to the user the multi-touch is all a screen thing), but really what they seem to amount to is a buzz-word added to the same product, and done so in such an unimaginative, lackluster, and otherwise useless way that all the user ends up doing is flicking around a few physics based games.
The last thing touch computing needs is to go from “Oh that’s so cool” to “Oh I had one of those, never used it.”
burninorange | Oct 21, 2009 | Reply
anyone know what kind of digitizer is used ?
Sumocat | Oct 21, 2009 | Reply
burninorange: documentation indicates an infrared system like the HP Touchsmart desktop and Microsoft Surface.