Dell adds multi-touch to Latitude XT

Dell has announced it's incorporating touch-screen functionality - in the form of an easy-to-install firmware upgrade - on it's Latitude XT tablets. Tablets or convertible PCs are notebooks with a rotating screen that can be used as a flat writing surface. With the free software, users can scroll by placing two fingers on the …

[TeeCee]

MS showing promise.

"........ until Windows 7 is released, which promises multi-touch "built throughout the OS"."

Come on be more specific. Is this promised as in descoped in development, promised as in descoped in Alpha, promised as in descoped in Beta, promised as in descoped in RTC or promised as in shipped but unusable*?

*with a fix promised for SP1 of course.

[Altis]

And shut down....

...by holding two fingers up to the screen!

[Simon]

Impressive features!

Supprised El Reg is not making more of a feature of the first ever laptop to come with an inetrgrated 'car reader'...

[Alexis Vallance]

Mmm

All looks a bit amateurish!

[Dan_Hibiki]

horrible video

For the love of all that is good, HIRE SOME ACTORS!

Although I respect their work, Engineers should not be seen or heard.

[Anonymous Coward]

Productivity enhancement

Dell is demoing technology designed to help employees to hide time-wasting behavior from their bosses? Wut?

[Marc Lawrence]

Similar to Simon

A car reader... wow.

I can imagine how good it will be for the police. or adult children. Point the camera at a car; and the reader technology will tell you the manufacturer and all the details specs from a HSPDA linked database; formulating on the screen like a nice Donald Trump card.

Adults can then becoming children in the playground again

[Kev K]

Yay for dell

I LURRRRVE my XT but do have "big boned" fingers so am looking forward to this & the bigger ssd drive will mean I have to carry less USB sticks about (vista/office/CS3 = almost no space).

This is the only machine I have that actually runs Vista decently & is probably the lowest spec laptop in the place

You would have thought though that a company the size of Dell would have a better Vid release that this though – does look a bit icky

[Barry Tabrah]

How do you zoom in again?

...zoom in by touching the screen with two fingers and moving them together

Are there fruit related legal issues why you zoom in by moving your fingers together rather than moving them apart, or is it merely another typo in this extremely hasty and slapdash news article?

[Anonymous Coward]

Show a bit of professionalism!

Can you ever imagine Apple releasing such a half-arsed vid?

[Adam Foxton]

@Dan_Hibiki

As an Engineer (Mechatronics FTW!) I wholeheartedly agree- Engineers should be kept away from the general public for demonstrations. They should be where they belong, at the back making sure everything keeps working!

Looks okay but a bit clunky- though I guess this is a combination of Windows' sucking at implementing this and them not being at the correct angle. Laggy too.

Multitouch should be good, though Windows is exactly the wrong environment for it. Compiz + multitouch could be good but I've never seen it work.

And another thing- why are Multitouch demos always resizing photos and zooming in on Google Earth? I mean okay it's a bit cool but isn't everyone a bit bored of that? Surely something like a multitouch Starcraft battle would be vastly better? If you get a decent touchscreen it is actually quite enjoyable!

[Wonderkid]

Isn't this copying Apple's multitouch tech?

Surely Apple have patented the spreading fingers technique for zooming in and out of images?

[wulff heiss]

what is

a car reader?

ROTM - my notebook can read my car, my car screws the freezer and the washing machine is reading my mind

SCNR

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: isn't this copying Apple's multitouch tech?

I suppose it'd be about right in this day and age, patenting a gesture you make with your hands.

[Adam Foxton]

@Wonderkid

Multitouch was out ages before Apple got anywhere near it. And they've been using the openning/closing fingers thing since the beginning.

I'd hope you couldn't patent it anyway- it's hardly a novel use of multitouch and would be a pretty obvious way of doing things.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not real multitouch by the look of it

Looks like it's just adding 2-finger gestures as an extra axis on the same interface device, much like zooming with a mouse wheel. I was hoping it would let me control several sliders on an onscreen mixer, or give me a separate cursor for each finger.

[Dan_Hibiki]

Multi touch starcraft

"And another thing- why are Multitouch demos always resizing photos and zooming in on Google Earth? I mean okay it's a bit cool but isn't everyone a bit bored of that? Surely something like a multitouch Starcraft battle would be vastly better? If you get a decent touchscreen it is actually quite enjoyable!"

How would proprietary touchscreen technology integrate with a game like starcraft?

Will punching the screen launch a nuke?