To take full advantage of Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system, which integrates touch-screen functionality, a variety of PC manufacturers are offering new touch-enabled devices that are designed to run it.
I broke the machines down into four categories: traditional laptops with touch screens; laptops that convert into tablets by repositioning their screens; laptops that convert into tablets by detaching their screens; and slate-like tablets, including Microsoft’s much-anticipated Surface, which will challenge Apple’s iPad.
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You’ll still be able to use Windows 8 without a touch-enabled device. Touch-pad gestures and the traditional cursor will work, though not as easily across the entire operating system. The new environment of Windows 8′s Start-screen tiles are especially designed for touch. People can do things like swipe left from the right edge of a screen to display function icons, or swipe up from the bottom of a screen to display navigation icons.
The Touch ScreensIf you aren’t quite ready to make a dramatic change in your PC hardware, buying a laptop or desktop that has a touch screen is a more conservative solution than a convertible laptop-tablet device or a slate. Though reaching across the keyboard to tap on a screen may feel unnatural after a lifetime of using a mouse and keyboard, people who use touch-screen smartphones and tablets may already be touching their computer screens out of habit.
The keyboard of the Asus’s VivoTab RT detaches, turning the screen into a tablet
Acer will sell three categories of touch-capable laptops: the S7 starts at $ 1,200 and weighs as little as 2.29 pounds; the M5 series is exclusive to Best Buy and starts at $ 800; and the V5 series laptops start at $ 750 ($ 700 in Microsoft stores). Samsung will offer the Notebook Series 5 Ultra Touch line, which starts at $ 810.
Asus’s VivoBook S400 line will cost $ 700 for a 14.1-inch screen, and Hewlett-Packard’s TouchSmart Ultrabook series will include the Spectre XT, a $ 1,400 device with a 15.6-inch screen. Pricing for Dell’s Inspiron 15z Ultrabook is still to be determined, while Toshiba’s Satellite P845t will start at $ 796 with a 14-inch screen. Sony will extend touch displays to its T and E Series Vaio models, which will start at $ 670 and $ 450, respectively.
Dell’s Inspiron 15z Ultrabook has a screen that flips around, converting it from a laptop to a tablet.
The Screen ShiftersCan’t decide between the familiarity of a laptop and the flashy new feel of a Windows tablet? Instead of buying two devices or just settling for one, several manufacturers offer in-between options by way of hybrids, or convertibles. Each computer has its own way of transforming from laptop to tablet without disconnecting—though they all usually become relatively thick tablets compared with Apple’s iPad.
Take Dell’s XPS 12 Convertible Ultrabook, which starts at $ 1,200. This looks like a regular laptop, but from its opened clamshell position the touch screen pops out of the screen frame, flipping around to act as the tablet’s touch screen when the laptop is closed. The screen of Toshiba’s $ 1,150 Satellite U925t Ultrabook Convertible opens in a clamshell position and flips all the way back, so the keyboard and screen are both parallel. Then the screen slides over the top of the keyboard.
Lenovo’s Yoga 13 and Yoga 11 models, $ 1,100 and $ 800, respectively, might scare people the first time they see them because their screens open, bend all the way back and keep going until the laptop lid is touching the bottom of the keyboard.
Toshiba’s Satellite U925t Ultrabook Convertible flips all the way back, so the screen can slide over the keyboard.
Asus avoids flipping and sliding by offering two 11.6-inch touch screens on its Taichi 21 (starting at $ 1,300): One screen where you expect to see a screen and the other on the laptop lid, activated when the laptop closes.
The DetachablesPeople who don’t like the thick tablets that come from transformed convertible laptops may want to pull their laptop screens off altogether.
Many models offer touch screens that completely detach for ultimate tablet portability. Samsung’s $ 1,200 ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T has optional mobile broadband. The tablet half of H-P’s Envy x2 (pricing not yet available) offers an 11.6-inch display while the 10.1-inch Iconia W510 sells as a stand-alone tablet for $ 500 or with a keyboard dock and extra battery for $ 750.
The SlatesReady to toss out the laptop keyboard altogether? Asus’s $ 600 VivoTab RT, Lenovo’s ThinkPad Tablet 2 ($ 649) and Dell’s XPS 10 (pricing to be determined) offer some keyboard-less options.
But of course, Microsoft’s own Surface RT tablet, which will start at $ 499 for a 32-gigabyte version, is sure to get a lot of attention because it’s made by the company.
Some of these devices are radical new designs, made to match Microsoft’s dramatic, new Windows 8 operating system.
Consumers have a lot of choices to make about how they use Windows in this new era of computing.
Write to Katherine Boehret at katie.boehret@wsj.com
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To say that RIM has a lot riding on their new BlackBerry 10 platform is a hell of an understatement, but to date the company has generally kept quiet on what consumers can expect from their first BlackBerry 10 devices.
As anticipation builds for a launch slated for later this year, N4BB has gotten their hands on an internal slide that reveals a few new details about RIM’s first BlackBerry 10 phones.
RIM CEO Thorsten Heins confirmed at this year’s BlackBerry World event that the first BlackBerry 10 device to hit the market would be a touchscreen-only model, and RIM has been getting developers ready for it by doling out thousands of their Dev Alpha devices.
While company representatives were quick to note that the Dev Alpha was nothing close to the touchscreen device they would eventually ship, the slide notes that the L-series BlackBerry (previously known as the London) would sport an OLED display running at the same 1280×768 resolution as the alpha hardware. That display manages to cram 356 pixels into every inch, which also confirms that the L-series device will have a 4.2-inch display panel.
The slide also offers up a few details about what RIM has planned for their forthcoming keyboard-toting N-series model, perhaps most notably that the phone’s OLED display will run at 720 x 720 with a pixel density of 330 ppi. Crunching the numbers points to a screen that’s just a shade under 3.1 inches diagonal, making it the largest display to go on a more traditionally designed BlackBerry (the touch-friendly Torch series had larger 3.7-inch displays).
Just when these first devices will begin to trickle out of Waterloo is still a carefully-guarded secret, but sources have told N4BB in the past that an August announcement for the first BlackBerry 10 device would be followed by an October release.
Interestingly, the leak comes hot on the heels of rumors that RIM was pondering the outright sale of their handset business, something that doesn’t seem terribly outlandish considering CEO Heins’ past statements on corporate strategy. That said, The Globe and Mail reported earlier today that sources close to RIM have denounced the rumors as short-sighted and untrue.
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We get a lot of PR pitches (“Write about our social media network for fish lovers! If you don’t, we’ll take our exclusive to TetraLover.blogspot.com,” “We’ll give you a private jet if you write good things about Apple – Sincerely, Tim Cook,” “Take a look at these iPhone gloves!”) and there are few I’ve dreaded more than writing about the aforementioned iPhone gloves mostly because the founders kept emailing me about these damned gloves. These things come from a Dutch company called Mujjo and they purport to allow you to interact with your iPhone with any part of your hand, including your wrist, knuckle, and palm. The founders must have used them to punch out emails on the icy Hague metro every day of the past month because they were pretty darn persistent.
The question when dealing with these sorts of pitches, really, is two-fold: a) does the product advertised work? and b) will I write about the product after being literally hounded for three weeks by these guys? In answer to both, I would respond with a resounding (literally) “Yes.” They work and yeah, what the heck, Mujjo, people like gloves, right? Also a post will get Mujjo to stop emailing me.
I tried these during a few colder Brooklyn afternoons and, like most gloves, they kept my hands warm. Unlike most gloves, I could use them to tap my iPhone screen. Could they be used to tap your iPhone screen with your knuckle? Sure. They’re full of conductive thread so smack away. Is that a major selling point? Not really, but if you’re paying $ 30 (25 Euro) for touchscreen gloves, these things better let you touch the very heavens with your triquetrum so this is an acceptable middle-of-the-road solution. So there you have it: gloves that are good as gloves and iPhone interaction tools. A double whammy.
If you’re still with me, let’s discuss the takeaways here:
1. These gloves work well. 2. If you email us enough we will eventually cave. 3. Don’t try that technique with every stupid thing you’re trying to pitch because if the product is absolutely stupid no amount of badgering will win our hearts.
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Question by Captain Charisma: What is the best Android phone for sprint that has a slide keyboard? What is the best phone from sprint that has the Android operating system, a touch screen front, and a slide QWERTY keyboard? I like the new touch screen phones but I get agitated trying to type on them, so I like the slide keyboard. I looked at the Samsung Intercept, and it looked very nice. Is there any other recommendations?
Best answer:
Answer by JoshSamsung Epic 4g is one of the best phones on the market.
Give your answer to this question below!
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