News - Touchscreen notebook shipments take off

[HEXUS]

Over 50 per cent more touchscreen notebooks shipped compared to the previous quarter.

Read more.

[watercooled]

Not really surprising considering how many laptops come with it as standard now. I think I'd only find it remotely useful if the screen could be spun round and used by itself like old style tablets (the standard laptop screen orientation would be awkward to use and lower it to a bit of a gimmick). Speaking of which, touchscreens on laptops is not a new concept, but I wonder how many companies are claiming to have invented it? Or will we have to wait for the next MacBook for that?

[Biscuit]

Not really surprising considering how many laptops come with it as standard now. I think I'd only find it remotely useful if the screen could be spun round and used by itself like old style tablets (the standard laptop screen orientation would be awkward to use and lower it to a bit of a gimmick). Speaking of which, touchscreens on laptops is not a new concept, but I wonder how many companies are claiming to have invented it? Or will we have to wait for the next MacBook for that?

I was thinking the exact same thing. I would say the percentage of laptops sold with touchscreen is probably pretty much on a par with the increase in the number of laptops that have it included as standard. This is just another stupid statistic that means nothing.

[crossy]

Touch-enabled devices make a good deal more sense for a Windows8 user (imho), so like the article says perhaps they're being very much driven by the push to '8.

That said, unless you've got shares in a company that makes LCD screen cleaner then you'd probably be happier with Leap Motion or one of the other "touchless" gesture-based controllers. I'm certainly not going to consider any Windows8 derivative (8.1, 9, etc) until those kind of controllers are available and properly supported.

[CK_1985]

I agree in principle that this is probably driven largely by laptops where touch is a standard feature, rather than by consumers specifically choosing it. However I would disagree that it's meaningless - this is exactly the sort of statistic that's needed to get app makers interested in writing MUI apps, which in turn is essential to get a bit of momentum behind the whole 'ecosystem'. they're not going to care too much about the drivers - they're just going to be looking at teh potential audience size.

As someone who owns a WP8 phone, I'm happy too see any story that could drive more app developers towards the Windows Store.

[Percy1983]

I will admit I am thinking of adding a touch panel to my netbook, or even converting into a tablet (a fatty at that).

[Medallish]

I recently bought an Asus U38N, mainly I just wanted a light, and quiet laptop, but the touch is surprisingly useful, had you asked me a few months ago what I thought about touch on laptops I would have written about how pointless it is, and while it hasn't sold me on Windows 8's Metro, sitting with your laptop in the couch, it's sometimes just way easier to simply touch the link, instead of having to use the touchpad which often isn't easy in that position, one of the same reasons I prefer trackpoints over touchpads, it's a tiny thing, but it elevates the user experience quite a bit, that and the honestly amazingly responsiveness of IE10, when zooming or scrolling, has made me use touch a lot.

[crossy]

it's sometimes just way easier to simply touch the link, instead of having to use the touchpad which often isn't easy in that position, one of the same reasons I prefer trackpoints over touchpads, it's a tiny thing, but it elevates the user experience quite a bit, that and the honestly amazingly responsiveness of IE10, when zooming or scrolling, has made me use touch a lot.

Speaking to someone who likes their Nexus 7 very much and he said pretty much the same thing about their new (touch enabled) laptop - actually he went further, saying that switching to his mouse/trackpad now feels very "odd" and "uncomfortable".