Technology at your fingertips - that is what HP is offering consumers with its latest PC, the TouchSmart IQ500.

The latest in the TouchSmart family boasts a 22-inch screen that requires just the touch of your finger to run and use a programme. Users can also write on the screen if they choose not to use the slim, wireless keyboard that's been specially designed to complement and fit into the slim-line frame of the PC.

"The introduction of a touch computer with such a strong focus on digital entertainment opens the door to an entirely new way for consumers to engage with their content," said Stephen Baker, vice president, of HP's NPD Group. "HP TouchSmart PC will allow people to interact with their photos, videos, music and games in unique ways, plus they do everything that you’d expect from a traditional PC." How true.

A sneak peek of the IQ500 a week before its unveiling at the HP Connecting Your World media event in Berlin revealed a large and stylish-looking PC that was just as impressive in its performance.

The clear, HD-ready 22-inch screen after opening up to Windows required just the touch of a finger on the shortcut on screen or on a discreet spot on the front of the PC's glossy black frame to run a specially designed software. With the TouchSmart software, users just have to swipe their fingers across the screen to flip through programmes on board as well as drag and drop them into a favourite's list.

The IQ500 comes just some 17 months after HP introduced it's first-generation HP TouchSmart PC which was the industry’s first touch-based, all-in-one consumer PC. The latest interpretation of the TouchSmart is much slimmer than its predecessor but is still an all-in-one consumer PC.

Moulded around the 22-inch high-resolution screen is a frame that encloses a host of ports from USB, to AV and TV, for those who choose the IQ500 with optional TV card. Also built into the all-in-one device is a DVD reader/writer as well as speakers, microphone and webcam.

The Intel Core 2 Duo processor sits behind the 22-inch screen, with 4GB of memory and up to 750GB of hard disk, so apart from one power socket, there is nothing else that you really need to plug in.

The HP IQ500 will easily fit into any room of a home or SOHO, because of its functionality and also user-friendliness, right down to its tilt adjustable screen for maximum viewing comfort and HP Ambient Light that shines from under the panel frame to light just the keyboard if you happen to work in the dark.

This is the largest touch-screen PC yet and offers the chance for both the young and old to discover and enjoy technology as never before. Or as Chua Hwee Koon,HP's Director, Personal Systems Group,( Asia Pacific and Japan) puts it, "the HP TouchSmart PC is all about reinventing the personal computer experience."

- CNA