Lenovo Enables Four-Finger Touch on ThinkPad X200 Tablet and T400 Laptops
Lenovo’s SimpleTap multitouch innovations for Thinkpad X200 Tablet and T400 Laptops come at a time, says company VP, when touchscreens are “increasing becoming part of more devices.”
Lenovo is introducing a new way to work with the multitouch screen technology of ThinkPad X200 Tablet PC and ThinkPad T400s laptop.
SimpleTap is an application that enables multitouch interaction. SimpleTap will be available for download after Oct. 22.
“We see now as the right time for multitouch screens on PCs,” says Sam Dusi, vice president, worldwide ThinkPad product marketing at Lenovo. “With touch screens increasingly becoming part of more devices, and with continued improvement of the technology–including the integration of touch in the upcoming Windows 7 operating system–the environment for making touch part of our Tablet PC and ThinkPad T400s laptop experience couldn’t be better.”
Designed for highly mobile users, the optional multitouch screen ThinkPad X200 Tablet caters to individuals in fields such as sales, health care, and education. Already supporting one-finger touch, these users can now use two-finger touch to perform a variety of gestures, including pinching, zooming, tapping, and flicking through documents, Web pages and photos instead of using a mouse.
The ThinkPad X200 comes with optional extra-bright outdoor screen. See related story.
The high performance ThinkPad T400s laptop serves professionals in engineering and design. Now these users can manipulate four fingers on the ThinkPad T400s laptop’s optional multitouch screen to not only replace the mouse but transform the way they work. They can now use four fingers to manipulate objects, move images with two hands, and even have another person touch the screen to collaborate simultaneously.
As new multitouch applications (see related SpaceClaim MultiTouch 720p promotional video) are introduced, there will be new possibilities for using multitouch screen laptops. With upcoming ThinkPad X200 Tablet models supporting the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, the new model features improved predictive text over previous operating systems, improved handwriting recognition in more languages and formula input features for math and scientific equations.
Lenovo has also optimized firmware to help compensate for slightly imprecise taps on the screen, such as when closing a window or navigating the Start menu. In addition, to combat fingerprints, an anti-fingerprint coating helps keep smudges at bay and the screen clean.
Lenovo designed SimpleTap, a ThinkVantage Technology, to enable use of people’s touch screens by giving them access to hardware-based functions that may be more easily accessed via touch input.
The ThinkPad T400s with the multitouch screen and the ThinkPad X200 Tablet with the multitouch screen and the outdoor screen will be available starting immediately through business partners and Lenovo’s Web site. Pricing starts at approximately $1,999 for the ThinkPad T400s with the multitouch screen and $1,654 and $1,704, respectively, for the ThinkPad X200 Tablet with the multitouch
screen and outdoor screen.
