Great minds think alike. So too, apparently, do hardware makers designing their own workspaces of the future.
Following HP’s announcement of the Sprout PC
last week, Dell showed off its own double-touchscreen PC, which it
merely called the Dell “smart desk.” Like the Sprout, the smart desk
concept uses a large LCD monitor—presumably the Dell UltraSharp 27 Ultra HD 5K monitor it launched in September—paired with a touchscreen display perched on the desk in front of it.
So far, there’s no indication that Dell plans to commercialize the
concept, let alone when it could do so. But it does appear to be more
than just art.
Unfortunately, Dell’s description of the smart desk itself is bogged down in the wonder of it all.
Placed in a natural, horizontal location that is more comfortable for
touch interaction, the Dell smart desk provides a work surface that
aligns closely with the productivity requirements of professional
software applications. Paired with a vertical display and powered by
plug-ins to key ISV applications, it instinctually separates seeing from
doing; primary work activities are close to the user while secondary
ones are further away, accessible through intuitive screen swipes.
Ten-plus finger touch functions as well as high-performance pen
functions and gestures, paired with a new generation of tools naturally
located on a horizontal surface, will allow users to easily manipulate
digital content without having to step away from the task at hand. This
digital desktop allows for multiple desks to be clustered around
specific projects, notes that can be searched and shared, and better
organization with scaling and stacking of growing content. In fact, any
smart desk workspace will allow users to pick up their work session
wherever they left it—regardless of location. This means that the
creative cycle will never miss a beat.
Whew. Translated, it appears that the Dell smart desk uses
touchscreens in both the vertical and tabletop LCDs to allow users to
manipulate objects by voice and by stylus—basically, treating the
tabletop LCD as a tablet of sorts. It also appears that the workspace is
synced to the cloud, and that users can push their flat tabletop LCDs
together to create an ad-hoc network of sorts for collaboration.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Dell Unveils Smart Desk Concept, Sets December 18 Ship Date For 5K Monitor
4:17 AM
1 comment
So far, that’s about all we know. Hopefully Dell will publish more
information about the smart desk concept, including price and
availability.
What this means: While there’s no
indication that traditional PC buyers are clamoring for desktops a la
the Sprout PC and this smart desk concept, it’s fair to say that one of
the few desktop stalwarts are creatives, who prefer large screens and
copious amounts of processor power for CAD work, video editing, and the
like. Sprout and Dell’s concept may be just a recognition of sorts that
the digital workstation is evolving into a more specialized tool.
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whoo this is amazing dell corp
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