The
Acer Aspire M5 Ultrabook line of notebooks with Windows 8 and an
optional 10-finger multi-touch display launches on October 26th as a
Best Buy exclusive.
The Aspire M5 Ultrabook comes in two models, a
14-inch version with the 10-finger touch and the 15-inch M5 with a
15.6-inch display and no touch screen option.The launch of these new notebooks lines up
with the consumer release of Windows 8 later this month, when consumers
can expect to see an avalanche of Windows 8 notebooks, tablets and
Windows RT tablets.
Acer Aspire M5 with Windows 8 and 14-inch touch screen.
Windows
8 relies on touch and gestures, and 14-inch touchscreen on the
Aspire M5-481PT is ready to take advantage of the new users interface
without asking users to give up a reasonably sized display. The M5 does
not fold around like the Yoga 13, so users will need to reach out to the display, something Intel researchers say consumers are quick to embrace.
The
Aspire M5 M5-581T upsizes to a 15.6-inch display, but drops the touch
screen option. This model is $100 less, but the lack of touch is a
possible turn off once users see and interact with Windows 8.
Intel
Core i 3rd generation processor power both of these notebooks along
with a hybrid hard drive that offers 500GB of storage and a 20GB SSD to
speed up booting and system applications. The M5 notebooks include two
USB 3.0 ports, a HDMI connection, a backlit keyboard, Dolby Home Theater
v4 and a DVD drive.
Profile of the 14-inch Acer Aspire M5.
Acer
claims both of these notebooks can last all day with 8-hour battery
life, but users should expect lower numbers with typical use. The
14-inch M5 weighs 4.6 pounds and the 15.6-inch models tops 5 pounds
pushing the limits of what most consumers consider an Ultrabook.
The
Acer Aspire M5 Ultrabooks arrive in Best Buy on October 26th. The
14-inch Aspire M5-481PT, with 10-finger multi-touch support retails for
$799 and the larger screen, Aspire M5-581T starts at $699.
Acer
also plans to launch the Aspire V5 notebooks later this month with
11.6-inch, 14-inch and 15.6-inch models. The larger models will offer
touch screens as an option. The Aspire V5 with touch starts at $749, and
starts at $499 without touch.
Consumer tests reveal users want single device with a keyboard that opens, closes and is touch enabled.
In
user experience testing conducted by Intel, researchers observed people
tilting back the laptop screen and using their thumbs to touch both
sides of the screen, similar to how people hold a tablet or smartphone. (Flickr photo)
Recent user testing shows that people want touch as part of their
laptop computing experience. These research findings from Intel counter
longstanding notions about touch-enabled displays on clamshell
computers.
Touch on vertical screens, such as laptops, has been thought to
result in so-called “gorilla arm,” a term engineers have coined to
describe what happens when people use touch interfaces for lengthy
periods.
“Touchscreen on the display is ergonomically terrible for longer interactions,” Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said to Wired
in 2010. In user testing conducted by Intel in Brazil, China, Italy and
the United States, however, people embraced touch on laptop displays.
“People told me that touch on the laptop was intuitive, fun,
immersive and freed them from the mouse and trackpad, especially when
they discovered actions like flicking the screen to scroll up or down
and navigate between tasks,” said Daria Loi, a user experience manager at Intel.
In testing Loi found that people spent 77 percent of the time
touching the laptop screen while running through a variety of tasks such
as surfing the Web, watching online video, viewing and editing photos
and adjusting the laptop’s setting.
“Many people found touch on a laptop screen intuitive,” she said.
For tests with consumers, Loi used an off-the-shelf touchscreen laptop running a simulated Windows 8 Metro-style operating system
and applications such as PowerPoint. Although the prototype was not
fully optimized with a touch operating system, many users said the touch
experience transformed the notebook from a work to a play device.
“One person even compared the addition of touch as like having a laptop with an extra gear,” she said.
Loi says that the study results debunked another industry concern.
“Many thought that hinges holding screens in place wouldn’t withstand
the forcible pokes and pinches for very long,” she said. “But we saw
people very gently touching, even caressing the screen.”
In her testing, she observed people tilting back the laptop screen
and using their thumbs to touch both sides of the screen, similar to how
people hold a tablet or smartphone. She also noticed a range of
additional informal postures, such as resting one elbow on the table or
armrest while touching the screen with the other hand or fluidly
switching between right and left hand to navigate via touch.
Loi said that participants strongly expressed that they did not want
the keyboard to go away. “Many gave practical or emotional reasons for
liking the physical keyboard, such as the way it feels or sounds when
pressing down on the different keys. Most participants did not like
interacting with the virtual keyboard, even when touch was their
favorite input modality.”
Strong Desires, High Expectations for Touch
Multi-touch screens are prevalent today on tablet and smartphone devices, and they’re even available on desktop computers.
But Loi said that with the advent of Windows 8, Microsoft’s
touch-optimized operating system, she wanted to know if people really
did or did not want touch on their laptop.
Loi noted that in her testing people didn’t see touch on a vertical
surface as a challenge or novelty. “Instead,” she said, “they described
touch as something that enriched their experience, and something they
believed would inevitably come to laptops.”
To participants who said they’d like to have touch and the keyboard
on one device, Loi asked if they would consider replacing their laptop
with a powerful tablet and wireless keyboard. “People said, ‘no way, the
tablet has its purpose but I still need a laptop. I just want you to
add touch,’” Loi said.
Daria
Loi uses an Intel reference design Ultrabook with multi-touchscreen
functionality. Loi conducted user tests and found that people spent 77
percent of the time touching the laptop screen while running through a
variety of tasks such as surfing the Web, watching online video, viewing
and editing photos and adjusting the laptop’s setting. (Flickr photo)
Testing occurred before Loi’s team revealed the first touchscreen Ultrabook systems this year at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and CeBIT in Germany.
“While Windows 8 will help convince consumers to buy a touch-enabled
laptop, it will come down to software and apps that use touch in a real
way — a way that feels natural and simplifies the interaction,” said Josh Smith, a reviewer at Notebooks.com.
Hundreds of millions of people have become accustomed to responsive
touch experiences they’re getting on smartphones and tablets. Smith said
this has created high expectations for fast and smooth experiences on
any touchscreen device. He points to recent Microsoft research aimed at
improving average touchscreen reaction time of a 100-millisecond delay
down to 1 millisecond over the next decade.
“I think that once this delay issue is overcome, we will see a better user experience and faster adoption,” Smith said.
“If I did this study 8 or 10 years ago, I don’t think I’d get the
same results,” Loi said. “In the past few years, people have been
exposed to touch through new personal devices and public interactions
with ATMs or airport check-in machines. Overall, touchscreens are
increasingly becoming smoother and more responsive than ever before. The
user interfaces are now optimized for touch.”
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