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by Nicholas Aaron Khoo, Singapore

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How HP is changing the way we compute

Aug 14, 2009 15:23

Today, this geek managed to catch Phil McKinney, the CTO of Hewlett Packard’s Personal Systems Group. No, Phil wasn't in Singapore in case you were wondering. We had a session over videoconferencing using HP Halo and Phil was sharing with some bloggers on the future direction of the company's personal computers and also a hint of what to expect from HP personal computers coming up in the next two years ahead.

Phil basically shared an interesting concept of richness (of experience) vs. reach and mobility. He talked about how every gadget we have in the market today, from the mobile phone to even your TV, appeals to the consumers (that's us) based on the richness of experience and mobility and reach they offer.

We were introduced to some gaps in the current market offerings, one of which is currently being filled by Netbooks. HP is also exploring the use of new technologies such as touch, flexible displays, multimodal interaction, voice recognition, etc., to fill the other gaps in market demand. Imagine a mobile device in two years' time with some of these cool input technologies as well as a flexible 50-inch display extension which can fit in your bag. That will probably be the ultimate in terms of richness of experience and mobility.

We spent a lot of time discussing the touchy subject of, yes, touch. Having the largest market share of touch-enabled PCs in the market current, there were some interesting stories being shared on how touch-enabling desktop machines such as the HP TouchSmart PC has opened up a whole new way of computing to consumers.

Phil shared some interesting results from a study in India where they found out that different users from different cultural backgrounds use and respond to touch technologies differently. Some would not use one finger because it is considered rude, thus using two fingers at any one time. Some would prefer to use their thumb. Interesting to see how HP plans to cater to such diverse user needs as it sets itself the ambitious goal of not having you adjust to the machine, but having the machine adapt and become natural to you.

There was also this story about how the father of a 14-year-old who couldn't speak (and was attending a school with special needs) saw the TouchSmart PC and bought it. The child started responding to the touchscreen positively, and over time started to learn to speak as he was taught using the TouchSmart PC. Today, this child's special school has a TouchSmart PC in every classroom.

It appears that a lot of interesting applications are being developed around HP's Touch technology. While the experience isn't perfect on the Vista now, HP has worked extensively with Microsoft over the past two years to improve the touch experience on Windows 7.

So it looks like HP will be pretty focused on proliferating its touch technology for a while. I, for one, would find it really interesting to see how its research in flexible displays and multimodal interaction, which unfortunately we did not have time to cover much today, will dramatically change the way we compute in the future.

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Geekonomics

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Geekonomics says...
Post edited slightly as I published in a rush this afternoon.

Aug 14, 2009 17:52

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zorkor

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zorkor says...
I agree. HP has really grown from the old Printer era is cutting edge notebooks, tablets and netbooks. I have seen more HP products in a mega mall where i live than Dell and Toshiba combined. More and more people ask me which one to get and i always recommend them HP. I myself bought the TX Touch series which is very affordable and a joy to use.

I get amazed on how fast HP is moving, they are releasing more and more advanced computing devices that I start to wonder if they hit a gold or something, each design wants me to buy another one. From less than 10inch screens to 17inch monster Laptops, HP continues to amaze me. Well done HP!

Aug 15, 2009 14:55

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Geekonomics

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Geekonomics says...
Yes, HP is really pushing the envelop with some of their new devices there. I'm sure we can expect more exciting devices in the future. After I posted this story, Ann Finnie of HP sent me more information about the 14-year-old's story:

You can see the progress Jordan has made with the HP TouchSmart PC at the Hope Technology School:

www.youtube.com...

NBC did another story after the school was robbed:

pajamasmedia.com...

Aug 15, 2009 16:15

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About Nicholas Aaron Khoo

Nicknamed "Gadget Boy" by friends at age 18 because he used to scribble Grafitti on a PalmPilot faster than most would type, Nicholas Aaron Khoo is web developer turned technopreneur and Singapore tech blogger who also pretends to do strategic advisory for tech startups and 'un'Fortune 500s (when he's not pretending to be the gadget-loaded Batman). A digital nomad, his tech interests range from gadgets, games, tech trends, social media, security, and just about anything that runs on 1s and 0s. See his industry affiliations here.
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