Windows 8 touch PC demand strong

I am seeing quite a few posts lately stating that they are starting to see a demand trend towards Windows 8 machines with touchscreens. Personally I wouldn’t want a PC running Windows 8 without a touchscreen because the ability to have direct interaction with the screen greatly enhances the Windows 8 experience.

We have recently set up a four screen set up in our showroom (see the picture to the right) and it turned out beautifully. We also have an All-in-One touchscreen and even though I like looking at the four screen setup I find the touchscreen on the All-in-One to be more enjoyable to use. I can only see this as getting more important to a user when the have a laptop, convertible or tablet with Windows 8 on it.

There are some reports of touchscreen shortages that are attributed to this demand. In general a touchscreen device is more expensive than a non-touchscreen one, which tells us that people really want this capability in their new purchases. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues and if the touchscreen products will start to be produced in greater quantity and hopefully the prices will start to come down.

Let me know your thoughts!

Lenovo buys Stoneware

Lenovo has purchase Stoneware, apparently to acquire their cloud computing and classroom management software products. Stoneware’s product lineup includes webNetwork, LanSchool and webRDP.

Stoneware’s webNetwork simplifies your life by enabling you to create a Unified Cloud. A unified cloud delivers private data center, public cloud and local device resources through a common webDesktop. With webNetwork you can simplify your user’s life by providing a common HTML5 webDesktop. The webDesktop, accessed through the Unified Cloud, delivers all files, applications and reports through a single user id and password on any device. They suggest that this product will make IT costs go down and simplify the user’s online access. See Brochure. Business – K12 – Higher Ed. So whether you are using a phone, tablet, notebook or workstation you will have the same basic look and feel through their web browser interface

Lenovo certainly has a strong Educational presence and this new product offering can only help with giving them more focus.

Peter Hortensius, Lenovo senior vice president and product group president, said that the Stoneware acquisition furthers the vendor’s PC Plus initiative, its strategy to branch out beyond PCs to the interplay of multiple devices, the central point of which is enabling client devices such as notebooks, tablets and smartphones to communicate through the cloud.

“Adding Stoneware cloud computing into the Lenovo line up presents a significant opportunity to leverage their success, and enhance our PC+ offerings, all to the benefit of our customers,” he said.

Rick German, Stoneware chief executive, seemed to enjoy the prospect of talking to a worldwide audience, in what, for the small developer, must be rarefied air. “Lenovo is one of the largest and fastest growing technology companies in the world and for Stoneware, a small company with roots in the heartland of the United States, we are delighted to be given the opportunity to deliver real benefit to customers on a global stage,” he said.

More on these product offerings as we get news from Lenovo directly.

Gartner reports that the "’Personal Cloud’ is going to supplant PCs by 2014

So what are they predicting? They are suggesting that the primary digital device for most users will not be the PC by 2014. I am not sure that will be true, we may see that in addition to PCs many people will also have a tablet, smartphone or some other kind of consumer device.

For those of us that are doing creative work, I’m not sure a touch device is the best answer. However, they are pointing at some of the cloud services like OnLive and CloudOn as predecessors to even more robust services that a less powerful system can access and still get the performance they need out of a tablet device.

Gartner has indentified five “megatrends” that are contributing to the shift toward the personal cloud:

• Consumerization. As users have become more technologically adept -- and more plugged into the Internet and social media -- they are demanding devices and connectivity on their own terms.
• Virtualization. Thanks to virtualization, users are no longer tied to specific devices or OSes, even in the workplace.
• "App-ification." User experience apps can be used to tweak existing applications so that they work on a greater range of devices and platforms.
• Self-Service Cloud. Personal, self-service clouds allow users to create virtual workspaces, tailored to their preferences and available on multiple devices, anytime and anywhere.
• Mobility Shift. Improved mobile devices -- including those equipped with touchscreens and other interactive UIs -- are increasingly able to perform traditionally PC-based tasks. Given this functionality, an array of mobile devices can be interchangeably used as primary devices while a user is on the go.

We are starting to talk to some of our clients that wanting to have the same desktop available to their employees on whatever machine they connect with, whether it is a desktop, tablet or some kind of thin-client machine. They site that having an expected sameness with any device will help them be more productive and give them a better use experience.

As we keep seeing the cost of hardware go down and their capabilities begin to soar up the scale we can see more of a push towards this direction. We will need to start seeing software costs that promote this style of interface for the client come more in line in cost to make this happen more quickly.

Lenovo Redefines the IdeaCentre All-In-One PCs

January 4th Lenovo unveiled four new IdeaCentre and Lenovo all-in-one (AIO) desktops at the 2011 CES. We have had a couple of the earlier C200 systems in this month and we are very favorably impressed with the capabilities of the unit for the money.  Priced below $500 you get a futuristically designed system that has all the components that you need in most simple home environments. It all starts with a 18.5 inch screen

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

• Intel® AtomTM D510 Dual Core processor
• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64 bit
• Large 18.5 inch high-definition 16:9 widescreen display
• Integrated stereo speakers
• Integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics
• DVD reader/writer
• 6-in-1 card reader and USB2.0 connectors
• Integrated Wi-Fi
• An integrated Lenovo High-Sense Web camera built into the top of the screen provides clearer video chats.

BREAKTHROUGH STYLE

• Space-saving, stylish design fits anywhere in the home
• Easily adjustable stand (-5° to +25° viewing angle)

REST EASY

• Designed as a basic family home computer, with affordability and reliability in mind
• OneKey Rescue System for quick and easy data recovery

I was surprised at its speed for the atom processor and it’s convenient design. If all you need is a simple Internet access machine this might just be the ticket!