HP has claimed an industry first with its new TouchSmart tx2, a convertible notebook PC featuring capacitive multi-touch technology that allows the mouse touchpad to be by-passed in favor of simultaneous input from more than one finger with gestures such as pinch, rotate, arc, flick and drag.

The convertible design has a central hinge which swivels through 180 degrees allowing it to be used in three modes - PC, display and tablet. As well as facilitating fingertip control, the tx2 includes a rechargeable digital ink pen and handwriting recognition software for direct onscreen text input.

Powered by an AMD Turion Dual-Core processor and running on Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1, the 4.5 pound unit has a mercury-free 12.1-inch diagonal BrightView LED display with a built in “swipe” fingerprint reader on the right side of the screen plus an integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, webcam, a 5-in-1 media reader and Altec Lansing stereo speakers.

Multi-touch input and simplified access to digital content is made possible by the company’s MediaSmart software which includes an Internet TV module that will provide access to 10 television channels via a partnership with MTV Networks.

It’s interesting to note that touch technology has been in development at HP for some time, with a history that stretches back to 1983 and the introduction of the HP-150 touch screen PC.

The HP TouchSmart tx2 is available in a number of configurations (including a choice between AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor or AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor) with pricing starting at USD$1,149. More information about the tx2 is available here

This fancy new feature lets you search the Web by simply speaking into your iPhone. Check out the video below from Google engineer Mike LeBeau

I haven’t tried the app yet, I’ll be downloading the update tonight. Let me know if any of you have given this a whirl yet.

The deal, if confirmed, would represent the fourth major expansion of the iPhone’s retail presence outside Apple’s own 200-plus stores — first to AT&T’s 2,000 retail outlets, then to nearly 1,000 Best Buy outlets, and then to the tens of thousands of points of sale (many of them no more than mom-and-pop kiosks) that carry iPhones for Apple’s overseas partners.

An AT&T memo with a timeline of the Wal-Mart rollout, as posted Wednesday by the Boy Genius Report:

We are pleased to announce that Wal-Mart has reached agreement with Apple to offer iPhone 3G in Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart-managed Sam’s Club* Connection Centers nationwide beginning December 28, 2008.  AT&T will support Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club with the activation process for iPhone 3G, and we need all National Retail employees engaged to ensure a successful launch.

*NOTE: This product launch DOES NOT apply to SC Kiosks within Sam’s Club managed by Radio Shack.

Wal-Mart has communicated the following launch plans and execution timeline to their employees:

• iPhone 3G will be available in-store only beginning 12/28/08
• New and existing customers in good standing can purchase iPhone 3G with a 2 year contract
• iPhone 3G transactions only will be processed through POS.com, not the kiosk

Execution Timeline:

• 12/2 – 12/5:  AT&T / Wal-Mart MEM Classroom Training for Store Leads
• 12/3 – 12/19:  AT&T In-Store Training
• 12/26 – 12/27:  AT&T In-Store Refresher Training
• 12/28: Nationwide Launch
• 12/28 – 12/30:  Wal-Mart and AT&T War Room Support

[via]

Techstars is a start up company incubator that selects 10 companies at a time. The companies are made up of young entrepreneurs to join a summer program where they are exposed to various mentors and investors.

Matt Mullenweg, the founder of WordPress is in this, so that makes it even cooler from my perspective.

The service, which promises “low latency, high data transfer speeds, and no commitments,” uses a global network of edge locations to keep the system humming.

Amazon announced in September its intentions to launch a CDN, with a target date of the end of 2008. It also made clear then that pricing would be consumption-based. Amazon has declared that there is “no minimum fee” for CloudFront; customers pay only for what they use.

There are loads of CDNs out there: it’s an on-demand, business-focused offering for which companies are willing to pay good money. But because Amazon already has a big grip on the cloud with its existing Simple Storage Service, or S3, CloudFront is likely to be a power player from the start. [via]

Enjoy

For that $75 you also get her posting videos on her site, YouTube, Seesmic and Viddler, she’ll post pictures on Flickr and tweets about it all as well.

From Jenaé’s site:
It consists of me being your walking advertisement as I wear your
company shirt and showcase anything else you send me. I spread the news
via Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Viddler, Seesmic and my website,
showcasing who you are, what you do, and how others can do business
with you. For each, I create a showcase video where right on the show,
I open your package, talk about your company, then wear your shirt and
spread the news. The day after the company is showcased, it will be
listed under our shirt & swag graveyard where others can buy the
paraphernalia I showcased.

Similar technology has been used in the Salyut and Mir space stations to process water collected from the cabin’s atmosphere (the result of perspiration, aspiration and A/C condensation) but until now claiming back as much as 92% of water consumed by astronauts was just a wonderful dream.

The project is part of a 15-day shuttle mission aimed at increasing the number of astronauts the craft can hold from three to six. [via]

The new 32 and 42-inch Allio HDTVs have the integrated HD tuner and HDMI inputs, but also have some features not included in other TVs — including a Blu-ray player and PC.

Pricing will start at $1,599 for a 32-inch HDTV with a 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo, 250 GB HDD, 2GB memory and DVD burner, with the 42-inch version coming in at $1,999.  The 2.53 GHZ model featuring Blu-ray and PVR recording will cost $2,199 for the 32-inch model and $2,399 for a $42-inch TV.  The higher end HDTV with 4GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage will cost $2,399 and $2,799, respectively.

All TVs have 802.11g WiFi and a wireless keyboard and mouse are available to reduce the amount of cables necessary in the living room.

The wireless Internet will offer owners easy access to streaming Internet video when a set-top box or game console typically is needed to access online content.

Each TV ships preloaded with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium. Consumers looking to avoid Windows and save a couple of dollars will be able to wait for Allios preloaded with Ubuntu Linux.

Companies trying to make a bigger impact in the living room face stiff competition from companies with a strong foothold, so combining HDTV with a PC and Blu-ray player will help grab the company headlines.

Depending on how sales are of previous HDTVs that are bundled with other technologies, expect to see similar product announcements in the future. [via]

Until next Tuesday (November 18), the following movies are on sale:

• Terminator 2
• Total Recall
• The Last Action Hero
• Red Heat
• Air America
• Basic Instinct
• St. Elmo’s Fire
• The Karate Kid
• Air Force One
• A Guy Thing

These movies are not rentals (which is even better).

In addition to movies, Apple is also offering iTunes albums of the week. These are $5 full length albums.