Analysts describe Surface as straddling the line between tablet and PC by featuring a tablet form with a multi-touch keyboard and USB port.
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And while that skinny little Touch keyboard for Microsoft Surface may be better than typing on a glass screen, it will be far from the gold standard for PC keyboards.
We've long been fans of Syntellia's Fleksy for its astonishingly accurate predictive touch keyboard, and were excited to see an Android version finally come out to play at CES 2013.
Will software vendors offer applications that make the combination of touch and keyboard a must-have?
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His response was that in the company's back-room studies, when they gave testers fifty tasks to complete using Windows 8, nearly 80 percent of the time, they chose touch over keyboard, mouse or trackpad.
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Richard Chapman, director of product management operations at SunGard, said the combination of touch and keyboard, and the ability to expand and shrink data on the screen with a swipe of a finger, significantly improves back office speed.
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The Q10 will have a physical keyboard, while the Z10 has only a touch-screen keyboard.
Moreover, its touch-sensitive keyboard, while slick, won't cut it for more than a quick e-mail.
The Microsoft Surface is a tablet with a keyboard touch cover meant to live somewhere between a laptop and a tablet.
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The Iconia would let users type on a touch-screen keyboard similar to the iPad, or draw, flick and zoom with their fingers.
The gestures RIM's built in for seamless navigation take some getting used to and the same goes for its much-vaunted, touch-based keyboard.
Mr. Pichai said the Pixel, which uses an Intel Core i5 and has a 12.85-inch screen, has the "highest resolution screen that's ever been shipped on a laptop, " and the company also touted an improved touch pad and keyboard.
While Windows 8 will work with a mouse or touch pad and a keyboard, it will be heavily oriented toward tablet-type touch-screen navigation.
The T1000 has a rotating multi-touch screen, chiclet keyboard and is aesthetically appealing with its gold textured surfaces.
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Productivity is enhanced thanks to the combined power of touch screen and QWERTY keyboard inputs, enabling smooth navigation with efficient and professional input.
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With a multi-touch display - no keyboard or mouse here -- housed in what looks in size and shape like a chic coffee table, the company hope that the table-style computer will change the face of computing at the office and in the home over the next decade.
Users can type in Web addresses or e-mails with a stylus on a pop-up keyboard on the touch-screen.
The sleek, lightweight aluminum and glass device is equipped with a 9.7-inch touch screen and has no keyboard.
No mouse, no keyboard, no touch screen, just your hands in the air.
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The prototype includes a special touch screen and a virtual keyboard.
Fortunately, die-hard Blackberry users and former loyalists rooting for the company's comeback won't have to make do with the all-touch Z10 and its quirky keyboard.
In those cases, gestures become the keyboard shortcuts of touch and begin to let you create applications that you play more than you use, almost like an instrument.
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For those looking for even greater flexibility and control of their Smart TV experience, Samsung's new Smart Wireless Keyboard (sold separately) features a standard-sized keyboard along with touch pad.
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But more recently, it has had to go back to seek fresh approval because its latest BlackBerrys, the touch-screen Z10 and keyboard-equipped Q10, run off a new operating system.
But even these aren't a perfect solution, because the ones that work with the iPad can't send common Windows keyboard commands to OnLive Desktop, so you wind up moving between the keyboard and the touch screen, which can be frustrating.
The Microsoft Surface, a horizontal touch-screen computer with neither keyboard nor mouse, will go on sale in November.
Making their debut today were the touch-screen Z10 and the keyboard based Q10.
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None of this voice and machine vision means that direct touch on touchpads and displays, keyboard and mouse will go away any time soon.
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