This wasn't the first—Dell's Latitude XT took that honor—but HP had moved further ahead with touch interface design, and could have really knocked this out of the park. But the touch interface has two problems, according to Laptop's review: The software isn't as good as it could be, and the screen itself isn't responsive enough.

The MediaSmart software was half-baked. It loaded slowly and when it was running, there was no easy way to toggle between music, photo and video, because they're all separate applications. Thankfully the touch controls worked in non-HP apps such as IE and Word. And while fun gestures like forming the McDonald's arches launched the MediaSmart browser, intuitive gestures like two-fingered scrolling (found on the Dell Latitude XT) were not enabled here.

The responsiveness of the panel was also a concern, though this might have been less to do with the touchscreen itself and more to do with the power of the system. Though Laptop got sent a high-end build, it seems to have struggled with basic Windows functionality. With regard to touchscreen peformance, Laptop has a few examples like this one:

When we used two fingers to zoom in and out of Web pages in Internet Explorer 8, the page looked jerky while resizing, and the response was delayed.

We may check this thing out ourselves, at some point, but Laptop's review doesn't really make me so thrilled about the prospect. That's right folks, you may have to wait a little longer for a decent reason to put your oily, smudgy fingerprints all over your computer screen. [Laptop]

Dell Adds New Touch to Tablet PCs Round Rock, Texas, December 10, 2007

* Dell LatitudeTM XT system is the only sub-four-pound 12.1-inch convertible tablet with ground-breaking capacitive touch technology
* System is the thinnest and one of the lightest convertibles available
* Optional daylight viewing display offers the brightest display in its category
* Hardware supports future multi-touch functionality

Dell is setting new benchmarks for tablet PCs with the addition of the Latitude XT, the thinnest and one of the lightest 12.1-inch convertible tablets available. It is also the brightest in its category with an optional daylight viewing panel. The system starts at $2,499 and Dell will begin to take orders and ship the Latitude XT by the end of the year.

The Latitude XT is also the industry's only sub-four-pound convertible tablet with pen and capacitive touch capability. Capacitive technology senses the touch of a finger with no pressure required for the system to recognize input. It is also the forerunner to emerging multi-touch capabilities that allow the use of more than one finger for tasks such as zoom and repositioning a picture, to name a few. Other touch features available on the Latitude XT include:

* Accuracy and speed - touch response times on the Latitude XT are faster than the Lenovo X61T1
* Advanced digital palm rejection technology, helping prevent inadvertent contact that disrupts pen input
* The digitizer technology on the Latitude XT is rated up to 10 times more durable than competing resistive touch digitizer technology
* Maintenance-free, no-battery pen with eraser and "right" mouse click functionality

"We are listening and aim to exceed customers' expectations," said Margaret Franco, director, Dell Product Group. "Until now, customers have been forced to make tradeoffs in tablet functionality to have usable systems. With Capacitive touch technology, the Latitude XT will revolutionize the way customers interact with their systems, allow customers to take full advantage of tablet technology and enables customers to get more done with greater speed and precision."

Most competitive tablets on the market today rely on resistive touch that requires the application of force for the system to recognize user interaction. The older technology can be less accurate and durable than capacitive touch and may not support multi-touch. In addition, many customers who use resistive tablets that support both pen and touch functionality may disable the latter because the palm rejection technology is subpar.

Market Impact of Dell Tablet PC
"Dell's plan to enter the tablet PC market will help promote the platform among its large number of customers and help facilitate the product category to go mainstream," said Doug Bell at industry analyst firm IDC.

The Latitude XT is designed with the future in mind with the capability to support multi-touch. As the technology matures, the system can serve as a premiere development platform for applications that can take advantage of multi-touch.

"By integrating our DuoSense technology into the Latitude XT, Dell creates the ultimate machine destined to lead the tablet PC market," said Amihai Ben-David, CEO of N-trig. "Customers using the new Latitude XT will find that the zero pressure touch combined with the accurate stylus changes the usability of tablet PCs. Once they try it, they won't want to go back."

As part of Dell's ongoing goal to be the "greenest technology company on the planet," Energy Star 4.0-compliant configurations of the Latitude XT will be available in January 2008.

Other features of the Latitude XT include:

* Optional media base for docking and optical media
* Full-size keyboard with dual pointing
* Up to 64 GB2 solid state drive; up to 120 GB2 hard drive
* Optional battery slice designed to provide up to 9.5 hours of battery life3
* Intel® Core 2TM Solo and Duo ULV processors
* ATITM RadeonTM X1250 UMA integrated graphics

[Dell, Dell Blog via I4U]