HP Developing Hybrid Tablet PC / Coffee Table 187
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."
But... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:But... (Score:4, Funny)
Use a coaster before your wife catches you!
I'd rather have a robust touch-screen coffee table display that I can connect my laptop to.
Re:But... (Score:3, Informative)
I'd rather have a robust touch-screen coffee table display that I can connect my laptop to.
Well, just in case you were thinking of placing your laptop on top of a coffee table display, never keep a drink on the same surface as a laptop!!! [slashdot.org] Honestly, it's a horrible accident just waiting to happen, the kind where thousands of dollars just disappear in the blink of an eye, along with all your data.
Desktops are fine. All you replace the keyboard if you accidentally tip a drink over, maybe a mouse. But jus
Re:But... (Score:2)
Probably for the same reasons we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway.
Re:But... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:But... (Score:2)
Java Programmers Rejoice (Score:3, Funny)
(Still won't make it run fast, but but the irony is thick)
Re:Java Programmers Rejoice (Score:3, Funny)
The true use of this table revealed! (Score:3, Funny)
Everyone knows that this is nothing more than a MAME setup to play all those old cocktail table games of yesterday! Long live Joust and Ms Pacman!!!
http://religiousfreaks.com/ [religiousfreaks.com]Re:Cool another $2000 atari emulator for my house. (Score:2)
I must admit I'm not an expert when it comes to touchscreens, but I beleive a 30" touchscreen is about $12,000.00. I would imagine something of this nature would be even larger - then tac on the *special* software HP wrote and the desktop PC to run it (with either a special video card or a very expensive one I'm sure) and I'd imagine $20,000.00 would even be too low.
My initial reaction to seeing this....piece -- was that it looked very cool - and would be great at the comp
useless (Score:5, Funny)
- ---------- -
Hideous piece of show-off crap... this is the most useless invention since the pet rock!
Re:useless (Score:5, Funny)
Taking all the humour out of jokes via pointless dissection since 2006.
Jedidiah.
Re:useless (Score:2)
Useless... Tungsten! (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Secret pictures of the thing (Score:2)
Cocktail table computer [google.com]
I think you have to put quarters in it...
My $399 PC already has a coffee cup holder (Score:4, Funny)
"Misto"? (Score:3, Funny)
"Misto"?
I would like to point out that 'mist' is the German word for 'manure'. Hmmm.
Re:"Misto"? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:"Misto"? (Score:2)
I think it's almost impossible to have words which are safe internationally.
We once had a piece of software called CUE -- we were quite dismayed when a French customer told us that it sounded remarkably like the French slang for your, er, rectal orifice. They were quite adamant we should rename it.
So what happens... (Score:1)
Re:So what happens... (Score:2)
The top of the table... (Score:3, Informative)
Actual tablet PC's don't have you writing on the mushy LCD, there's a sheet of tempered glass over the display to protect the LCD.
Re:So what happens... (Score:2)
A coffee table with a stain memory -- think of the uses.
errr....
Re:So what happens... (Score:2)
Or a dress...
Re:So what happens... (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh yeah? I have 3 (all boys). I bet *my* kids could destroy it in only 2 minutes.
Seriously though, this does look very cool. Would be a great way to play Risk.
Re:So what happens... (Score:2)
Re:So what happens... (Score:2)
I'm not sure how you figure a non-touch screen 1.5" screen on a device built skimpy on purpose because every gram counts has anything to do with a screen in an immobile mount that could weigh 50 pounds and be covered with centimeter-thick tempered glass.
Try this one:
Somebody made a car once that fell apart in a year, therefore all cars suck.
Turn the table (Score:1)
Re:Turn the table (Score:1)
This sounds great (Score:1)
End of line
Re:This sounds great (Score:2)
No more lost remotes!
Coffee Table Book (Score:2)
Or my coffee table website, that is actually displayed on a coffee table....
Scratching (Score:2)
Sounds interesting (Score:2)
w-hat? (Score:1)
Re:w-hat? (Score:3, Insightful)
really? my old Toshiba toughbook I use for emptying CF cards and writing in my journal during hiking works just fine sitting there in the rain, with a diet coke spilled in it, etc....
If this thing is going to cost what I think it will, it will be trivial to make it as protected as a toughbook is.
Re:w-hat? (Score:2)
MissedJoe (Score:2)
I think Kramer is going to sue for copyright infringement. [cnn.com]
Interesting concept. (Score:2)
Still, you have to start somewhere, and I am glad there are companies developing stuff like this to throw at the wall.
entertable (Score:2)
Not ahead of its time (Score:2)
They should market it as a game room item. Trouble is, the touch-screen is going to get damaged so easily that nobody would want it in a game room. If I can't put my feet up on it or set a bowl of popcorn on it, I don't want it in the living room, either.
There's a company in Illinois [novadesk.com] that sells desks with glass tops, so you look down through the desk at the screen. Very comfortable to use.
Re: (Score:2)
Seinfeld (Score:2)
Embarrassing Coffee Table Moment (Score:5, Funny)
Madge: Barb, this party is terrific. Good wine, excellent cheese...
Barb: Thanks Madge! Jim and I try to make them memorable!
Madge: I really like your coffee table [sets wineglass down on top of table]
Barb: Oh yes, it's the latest thing! It's got a computer inside...
Madge: Oh my!!!!! [loudly]
Barb: What's wrong Barb? What... OH DEAR GOD! JIIIMMMMMM!!!!
Jim: What's up Honey?!? What's with all the... GOOD GOD!!!
[Party comes to a halt as Jim's private pics of his and Barb's conjugal activites slideshow across tabletop]
Re:Embarrassing Coffee Table Moment (Score:2, Funny)
What I'd get... (Score:2)
Finally a computer I can put drinks on (Score:2)
Re:Finally a computer I can put drinks on (Score:2)
Re:Finally a computer I can put drinks on (Score:2)
/Mikael
DandD (Score:2)
better (Score:2)
Imagine playing, risk or stratego-- you can see your pieces, and the backs of the opponenets pieces... or find a way to make the dual view lcd's quad view, and a family of 4 can play scrabble on screen, and no one can see anyone elses letters!
No problem... (Score:2)
Nooo! (Score:2)
Damn.
(Sorry, I just felt I had to tell the world)
Re:Nooo! (Score:4, Funny)
All of us had this idea years ago. Only HP is dumb enough to think they can make money selling one.
Re:Nooo! (Score:2)
torn (Score:2)
At the same time, the idea seems kind of cool as I think some interesting applications could be developed for such a device. Think interactive TV/
Re:torn (Score:2)
I'm not sure what rock you have been living under, but family boardgames are huge in Europe, and that popularity is resurging in the US and Asia. Recent games like Settlers of Catan and Cranium have both sold over 10 million copies
Re:torn (Score:2)
It's a rock in the US.
Try to convince the wife (Score:2, Insightful)
Wife:"You're really not joking are you?"
Husband:"But, we can have rotating screen savers with pictures of the kids..."
Wife:"Or you can just sit there flipping channels on the tv while checking scores on EPSN.com"
Husband:"yea, or that too..."
Wife:"It doesn't go with the the furniture we have - no."
Interesting... (Score:1)
Seriously, if you're going to "allow a group to congregate around the table and share pictures, play board games, or peruse a map", then you can't expect them to form an orderly queue to take turns to touch the screen in a well-defined order. Well, you can, but it takes half the fun out of it. If this is to stand a chance of being successful (which it probably doesn't anyway right now), they've got to really push the social, collaborative angle.
TRON, reborn (Score:2)
Re:TRON, reborn (Score:2)
Unless it plays ... (Score:1)
I was this Bill Gates' demo (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Re:I was this Bill Gates' demo (Score:2)
Seriously, this looks amateurish, look at those two ugly fan covers, for starters, this thing just has no style at all, the way it is built, ugh. Will stick out as a sore thumb in *any* livingroom (or conference sideroom or what have you) If this were covered as a case-mod, people would mock this thing, the woodwork is pathetic. I bet it comes with a beige powercord
Re:I was this Bill Gates' demo (Score:2)
This is perfect!! (Score:3, Funny)
Interesting, but not new (Score:2)
It used a light pen instead of a touchscreen, but the principle is the same.
The blurb talks about Misto as a consumer product, but I suspect it's more likely to be adopted by b
Wow... (Score:2)
Coffee tables are for setting coffee, books, and maybe a board game on. You're not going to want to spend any significant amount of time hunched over one, even if it's for fun multi-user stuff. A normal-height table would be a lot better.
Re:Wow... (Score:2)
Seems like this is exactly what they're doing; putting a virtual board game on the coffee table. I'd agree that a full-size table would be better for most gaming (perhaps with little hand-held tablets each for secret data), but that's a minor detail. With LCD and plasma panels, you mount a nice large one under a protective sheet of glass or Lexan, and a quick game of Wiz-War takes no time to set up. You could even use head-tracking t
A touch-screen is a bad idea... (Score:2)
Re:A touch-screen is a bad idea... (Score:3, Insightful)
Better use a coaster.... (Score:2)
Needs multi-touch technology (Score:2)
The ultimate magic would also include some form of RF coupling to screen and table-edge antennas to ascertain which person was touching the screen. When a person touches the screen the induced RF would flow into them and radiate. The table-edge antennas would detect it and estimate where the "toucher" is sitting. Thus, person A couldn't illegally
I like it (Score:4, Interesting)
Forget replacing desktops, that's not what this is about. Consider the following:
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
I call it a $300 ebay notebook (Score:2)
I put the thinkpad on my coffee table. Strangely, it rarely moves. I am lazy.
Voila. Coffee table computer. Doesn't even look too bad.
Sometimes, it morphs into the "side table" computer.
I've even seen it looking lustily at the SVideo cable. It might become a coffee table MEDIA CENTER!
(sarcasm, for the impared)
Re:I like it (Score:2)
CyberBar (Score:2)
Imagine leaving your cube in the office park you work in, heading down the elevator to the lobby and into a CyberBar. You sit with your colleagues at a coffee table-cum-tablet. Drinks can be browsed on the device and ordered from there, where you can also see your tab (and potentially pay). Of course, the actual drinks come on a tray carried by a slim young blonde with tight-fitting black pants...
The po
My Question Is... (Score:2)
Not at all innovative (Score:2)
Form Factor (Score:2)
I got this idea 30 years ago (Score:2)
Older than that.. (Score:2)
Wall screens (large, flat, wall-hung displays) were pretty common in SF at the time (Star Trek's viewscreen,
Want one for Sea3D (Catan) (Score:2)
It's a really fun game, but playing it in the same room at the same table would make it even better.
Porn (Score:2)
Now I can spill coffee directly on my porn, instead of my keyboard.
Why? (Score:2)
This just seems like a really bad marketing move to me. Are there really that many people who would want a tablet PC built in to their coffee table? It seems analogous to trying to sell a desk with a built in PC. The whole point of the tablet and notebook market is that people like the portability market. Desktop machines are shrinking in size all the time, and the trend is away from desktops and towards notebooks. This is a step in the opposite direction of the industry trend.
I think they'd be far better
crazy multi-input touch screen (Score:2)
check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp-y3ZNaCqs [youtube.com]
use it at the bar (Score:2)
I could also see something like that in Starbucks. In my home though, probably the tv and my lap
The one problem no one mentioned (Score:2)
No, I think this will tank when people see that lovely cable running across the room.
Hmm.. (Score:2)
anyone else reminded of pizza hut? (Score:2)
Virtual Pinball? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The Perfect Accessory ... (Score:2)
Major Design Flaw.... (Score:2)
Of course, this begs the question... (Score:2)
Huh (Score:2)
Does it make coffee too? (Score:2)
Re:the Island (Score:2, Funny)