HP: Multi-Touch to Come to Notebooks Before Windows 7

Okay, I know we’re LAPTOP, but when I saw the new HP TouchSmart All-in-One, I had to make an exception to our “no desktops allowed” rule. The 22-inch computer has a multi-touch screen that’s as addictive as it is intuitive. For starters, it works seamlessly in the Vista interface, so you can use your finger to move windows and other onscreen items.

But the real fun begins when you press the home button, located on the lower right hand corner of the bezel. Pressing this button launches a touch-optimized media center, filled with widgets for photo, music, games, and news and weather updates, among other things. Although the technology has its limits– you can’t pinch photos to zoom in and out, as you can with the iPhone– you can use your fingers to scroll through apps, photos, and album covers and decide how you want to crop pictures.

By all accounts, HP hopes to bring this technology to notebooks. Kevin Frost, general manager of the consumer notebook division, expects it to reach laptops long before the launch of Windows 7 ($79.95) (two years or so from now). Kevin Wentzel, technical marketing manager, agrees, but he says the obstacle lies in developing suitable software– not hardware– for notebooks.

Check out our hands-on video with the HP TouchSmart All-in-One.