HP Aims to Organize, Back Up, and Entertain Families

I saw a few demos this week of the HP TouchSmart PC, the online winner in our Last Gadget Standing contest. It really is the closest thing to the kitchen bulletin board or refrigerator door that I've seen in a computer. It is definitely designed with moms in mind and to sit in the kitchen, the heart of the home. Using a stylus pen, family members can scribble notes that appear as virtual Post-its on the screen or record voice messages for each other.

This $1,799 PC would sit in place of a kitchen TV, and you can watch TV on it, but it hugs a lot of precious counter space. It's an impressive machine, but of all of Hewlett-Packard's CES 2007 offerings, the HP MediaSmart Server probably has a greater chance of changing family computing and home entertainment this year and beyond.

Chris wrote about the server, also called the Windows Home Server because it's a joint HP-Microsoft endeavor, as a compelling solution for backing up several home computers at once. But the server, expected out in the second quarter of 2007 with no word on pricing yet, also offers a remarkably simple way to access media stored on the server on any TV in the home. That means you could view photos, listen to music, or watch movies that are stored on any of several home computers because they are automatically backed up onto the server. And if there's a movie you want to watch but don't have stored on any computer, there will be an option to rent or buy movies from CinemaNow via the Internet.

HP's demonstration of the system in its CES home exhibit was impressive. With a remote, it appears you can switch quickly between music, movies, photos, and the web on any screen in the home. It is definitely something to watch and consider in 2007.