Netbooks to spur growth of touch panels

The launch of Windows 7 in October is expected to be a catalyst for a number of touch-based devices that utilise its multi-touch gesture software. Apparently, it will be netbooks that lead the way in adopting touchscreen panels over laptops and LCD monitors according to a report from Digitimes.

Industry sources are saying that there is evidence of this already from the models that are currently being sampled and validated. At the moment there is a lot more activity surrounding netbook devices then there are others. The report also says that prices of capacitive panels (for multi-touch gestures) are around $30 for a typical 10-inch sized display. The average cost per inch varies between $2.5-3.0.

Another report talks about something that doesn’t make too much sense to me. It talks of touch panels replacing the touchpad and mouse buttons on netbooks, giving more space for the keyboard. The only way this would work in my eyes is having a device that’s been designed from the ground-up for touch. For a typical convertible netbook (net tablet), I imagine you would still need either a touchpad or trackpoint. That is unless of course the screen is so sensitive it negates the need for one.