HP Developing Hybrid Tablet PC / Coffee Table

StrongGlad writes "HP has been working on a different take on the home entertainment PC. "Misto" is a hybrid of a coffee table and a tablet PC, featuring a large, built-in touch-screen display. The idea is to allow a group to congregate around the table and share pictures, play board games, or peruse a map. Misto uses a standard desktop PC as its engine, but comes with some specialized HP software for managing the interface. Pricing, availability and style of coffee table are all undetermined, but Misto gives people some idea of how HP wants to develop products that expand on its existing businesses."

Comments

Re:But...

[rez_rat]

Furthermore, what happens to a touch screen coffee table when you SPILL a cup of coffee on it?

I was this Bill Gates' demo

[figleaf]

at Comdex.
Looks cool. But thats about it.

I don't think there is a any market for this.
I would not feel comfortable placing my coffee cup on this table.

I like it

[mccalli]

I'm seeing a large number of negative comments, so I thought I'd wade in to counter a little. I like it.

Forget replacing desktops, that's not what this is about. Consider the following:

• Universal remote control. Consider this table having built-in IR, bluetooth and wi-fi. Nice remote for absolutely everything, yes?
• Games. No, not Quake 9. Think monopoly, chess, backgammon, card games. Or even things like a couple of my current PopCap timewasters - Bejeweled 2 and Bookworm.
• Photos, video etc.. The example image shows it - you could bring up your photos nice and quickly on this. And by video I don't mean 100gigs of ripped DVD, I mean home videos of holidays etc.
• AV instant messaging. Nice surface to just switch on and see the person you're talking to, or just relax on the sofa speaking as the built-in mic picks up your voice.

That's just things that immediately occur - I'm sure there's more. Simultaneous web-feeds whilst TV viewing for example - perhaps a program has more info coming up on the screen. For my money, it would be improved if they made the surface tiltable, so that I could lie on the sofa and look at this with a 45 degree angle say, or for easier viewing of the movies etc.. Would also be nice if it wasn't built-in per se, but instead defined a form factor into which easily upgradable motherboards etc. could slot in. And the whole thing would need to be very hi-res too.

As I say, I like it. Would I drop everything to rush and buy one? Doubtful. But I certainly don't think it's a waste of time.

Cheers,
Ian

Useless... Tungsten!

[The-Bus]

Ikea is from Sweden.

Here's the obligatory Ikea-joke from The Simpsons, courtesy of SNPP.com

The Simpsons make a shopping excursion to Shøp, the place to go for modern Swedish furniture and accessories. A costumed character that looks like an Allen wrench with arms and legs walks up.

The Simpsons make a shopping excursion to Shøp, the place to go for modern Swedish furniture and accessories. A costumed character that looks like an Allen wrench with arms and legs walks up.

Allen: You put it together yourself. All you need is me -- Allen
        Wrench.
Homer: [giggles] He's named after what he is.
Bart: [knocking on the wrench] Cool costume.
Allen: [turns away from the rest of the family to face Bart, and
        begins talking in a robotic tone]
        It's not a costume. They found me inside a meteor.
Marge: Excuse me, where are your hamper lids?
Allen: [friendly] Hamper lids? Uh, third floor.
        [turns to Bart again]
        [robotic] Help, I need tungsten to live. [raises arms]
        Tungsten!
        [Bart flees]

Now, in all seriousness, I think this table is a dream come true. I only hope in a decade they are affordable enough for the common man. LCD prices are becoming cheaper, and it looks like multi-input touch screens are functional in demo form. Imagine playing table-top RPGs with the assistance of custom terrain underneath? This would also work pretty well in business at places like architecture or engineering firms where everyone can crowd around a gigantic display.