14 DAY TRIAL // The Acer C720P touch-screen Chromebook has been out for a while, being available for purchase in the US from several retailers. However, this week Acer has finally brought the lappy to Australia.
Like most recent Windows 8 offerings being launched on the market, its panel boasts 10-point touch functionality for an extra touch of “fun and immersion.” But the question is, is there any point to adding this functionality when using Chrome OS?
Apparently, it will be up to developers to answer that question. For those who don’t know yet, the Acer C720P is an 11.6-inch Chromebook that comes equipped with an LED back-lit display and a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Power is drawn from an Intel Celeron 2955U CPU combined with 2GB of RAM and backed up by 16GB SSD.
The Chromebook mostly drew attention because the producing company marketed it as the world’s first touch-screen laptop running Chrome OS. But should this impress customers and encourage them to spend AUD$400 / $358 / €258 for such a device?
Lifehacker managed to track down Acer’s head of commercial client products, Daniel Goffredo who was present at the official Chromebook launch in Australia, in order to pick his brain about the importance of adding touch-functionality to Chrome OS.
Goffredo explained the company's choice has more to do with the future of Chromebook-bound applications than with real-life use. At least for now that things are still in their developmental stage.
“The main reason why we’re going down the touchscreen road is to encourage developers to start making applications that are touch-sensitive. At this stage, it’s more about browsing experience and manipulating photos, zooming in and zooming out.”
“But we do see the market maturing as more and more [touch] Chromebooks go out.”
Furthermore, Acer's official explained the touch-enhanced C720P doesn't represent a trial-out for the company, as they intent to push forward using this standard in the future, too.
“We’ve got a detailed roadmap in place. This year we’ll be releasing another touch-based product. The current plan is to release a non-touch and a touch-model of each product. So it’s definitely a big inclusion in our roadmap moving forward.”
Those who managed to get a hold of the Acer C720P have probably noted the lappy is quite responsive in terms of touching-capabilities; yet, right off the bat you can notice the OS wasn't designed taking into account this particular functionality in mind. But that’s all about to change, Acer believes.