HP Brings First All-in-One Touch-enabled Desktop Technology to Business Customers

LAS VEGAS, Building on the success of the recent HP TouchSmart PC for the home, HP introduced the market’s first all-in-one, touch-enabled desktop PC for businesses.

Through the use of interactive technology, the HP dx9000 TouchSmart Business PC can transform a business’s end-customer experience, allowing customers to connect, select and interact with vendors and each other. Customers can have a hand in, for example, placing orders with a retailer, conducting virtual video service calls, using touch to teach or utilizing social networking for business.

HP is working with a variety of software partners to develop innovative touch applications for small businesses and the retail, health care, hospitality and education markets. DNA Digital Media Group, GuestMVP, Interactive Multimedia Artists and Uniguest are among the early companies using HP touch technology to enhance and create interactive applications for tomorrow’s business needs.

In addition to its easy-to-use touch screen capability, the all-in-one PC includes the hardware and monitor in one space-saving device, while offering a full suite of business-ready software applications and built-in multimedia features tailored for small to medium-sized business environments.

“There is untapped potential for touch technology in the business marketplace to engage users in a way that has never been done before,” said Alan Reed, vice president and general manager, Business Desktops, HP. “With our partners, the HP TouchSmart fuels evolving business models and offers hands-on tools through custom programs and customer-facing applications that help companies better engage, interact and serve consumer demands.”

Getting in touch with your small business

The HP TouchSmart for business is pre-loaded with Windows Vista® Business 64,(1) a powerful Intel® Core 2™ Duo P8400 processor,(2) 4 gigabytes (GB) of memory, a 320 GB(3) high-speed hard drive and a Virtual LAN (VLAN) driver.

“Given the variety of usage scenarios for our small- and medium-sized customers, touch-enabled PCs offer additional choice, ease and flexibility to the workplace,” said Rich Reynolds, general manager, Windows Commercial Marketing, Microsoft Corp. “Innovative Windows 7 features coupled with the HP TouchSmart PC serves as a great foundation to help businesses connect with consumers.” Without using the TouchSmart PC’s wireless keyboard and mouse, users can hold video chats with remote workers through a built-in webcam and microphone, access e-mail and the Internet, and manage contacts, calendar items and photos.(4)

The HP TouchSmart for business is a space- and energy-saving portal for businesses. Its ENERGY STAR® qualified and EPEAT™ Silver registered design uses 55 percent less metal and 37 percent less plastic than standard PCs and monitors. With the easy-to-use HP Power Manager(5) tool, companies also can configure their individual PC power settings to save energy without interfering with their ability to perform work.

Its 22-inch diagonal high-definition,(6) widescreen HP BrightView LCD display tilts up or down for maximum viewing. Customers can watch and create CDs and DVDs with the PC’s built-in slot-load SuperMulti DVD drive(7) and enjoy high-quality sound through integrated premium stereo speakers. The system’s integrated five-in-one Media Card Reader lets users easily transfer photos, files and videos to their computer from various types of memory cards.

Pricing and availability

The HP dx9000 TouchSmart Business PC is expected to be available in North America in February at a starting U.S. street price of $1,399.(8)

In addition, the system is backed with HP Total Care Advisor and Business PC Service and will come standard with Commercial Limited Warranty support, with extended service available via commercial Carepack services.

About HP

HP, the world’s largest technology company, simplifies the technology experience for consumers and businesses with a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) Certain Windows Vista product features require advanced or additional hardware. See www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/hardwarereqs.mspx and www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx for details. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor can help determine which features of Windows Vista will run on a computer. To download the tool, visit www.windowsvista.com/upgradeadvisor.
(2) 64-bit computing on Intel architecture requires a computer system with a processor, chipset, BIOS, operating system, device drivers and applications enabled for Intel 64 architecture. Processors will not operate (including 32-bit operation) without an Intel 64 architecture-enabled BIOS. Performance will vary depending on hardware and software configurations. See www.intel.com/info/em64t for more information. Dual Core is designed to improve performance of certain software products. Not all customers will necessarily benefit from the use of this technology. Intel’s numbering is not a measurement of higher performance.
(3) 1 GB = 1 billion bytes. Actual formatted capacity is less. Up to 12 GB is reserved for system recovery software.
(4) Wireless access point and Internet service is required.
(5) HP Power Manager may not be available in all regions. Use of this application is not required.
(6) High-definition content is required to view HD images.
(7) Don’t copy copyright-protected materials. Actual speeds may vary. Double Layer is a new technology. Double Layer media compatibility will widely vary with some home DVD players and DVD-ROM drives. Note that DVD-RAM cannot read or write to 2.6 GB Single Sided/5.2 Double Sided-Version 1 Media.
(8) Estimated U.S. street price. Actual price may vary.