HP Confirms MultiTouch Before Windows 7 Hits Shelves

Only a day after announcing the latest update to the TouchSmart PC range, HP management has told reporters that the company expects MultiTouch – where a display responds to simultaneous contact from more than one finger – to make it into consumer products "long before" the launch of Windows 7.  Microsoft has recently confirmed that their next-gen OS would support MultiTouch out of the box, assuming paired with compatible hardware.

The news was broken by consumer notebook general manager Kevin Frost, at the launch of the TouchSmart PC.  The 22-inch desktop unit currently only responds to a single touch, not MultiTouch, but HP are now expected to include the technology in later incarnations.  Windows 7 is pencilled in to arrive in 2010, which doesn't leave HP long to introduce it themselves.

Kevin Wentzel, technical marketing manager at HP, followed up Frost's statement by highlighting the fact current MultiTouch implementations are currently limited by software, not hardware.  It's unclear whether he means practical, driver-type software, or the absence of software that takes advantage of the capability.

[via Electronista]