09.08.2006 — Crestron has a replacement for the TPMC-10, the company's WiFi tablet based on a Viewsonic Win CE-based touchscreen.

The new TPMC-8X is all Crestron and it's all good. This one sports a full Windows XP operating system, with 1.5 GB of memory, providing high-speed performance in a surprisingly slim form factor.
Unlike its predecessor, the TPMC-8X takes full advantage of the Windows OS -- something that was considered taboo in the early days of the TPMC, when Crestron officials seemed almost apologetic for using Windows.

"We are really exploiting XP here," says Fred Bargetzi, VP of technical sales.

Perhaps the most compelling PC feature of the new panel involves the ability to integrate traditional PC functionality, including Yahoo! Widgets, into a traditional touchscreen control environment. Widgets are those little bits of information that can reside on your desktop for easy access to weather, stock reports, maps and the like.

Crestron tests and approves the various Widgets, and incorporates them into the programming environment, allowing integrators to program how they appear on the panel, and how they respond to certain events.

For example, a programmer can place a "Weather" Widget within the "Environments" page of the touchpanel.

Better yet, the widget can be programmed to pop up in the event of a weather warning -- except, for example, when the user is streaming video to the panel. No interruptions, then.

Ditto for other PC applications: You've got Skype minimized on the touchpanel for easy access. You could program the system to pop up the full Skype screen whenever someone calls, except if a DVD is playing.

"We have more tools than a traditional windows environment," says Bargetzi. "If you talk about convergence and Windows Media Center Edition, you need more control. If you want to watch Skype on a Media Center, the computer doesn't know what to do with it."

Speaking of Skype, the TPMC-8X has two mics and special handsfree echo-canceling technology for optimizing VoIP calls through the unit.

Yet the touchpanel is "designed as an A/V control panel," says Bargetzi. The hard buttons on the case, for example, are optimized for home control. "This is not just a repurposed mouse," he says, describing the hard-button controls.

Beyond the integration with pure PC features, the TPMC-8X is simply faster than its predecessor, which could barely stream video.

In addition to the wide range of streaming video formats supported by its onboard media player applications (Windows Media 10, for example) the TPMC-8X also features native support for wireless streaming video from a variety of third-party Web cameras and servers using the motion-JPEG format -- great for watching DVDs or checking the front-door cam when the doorbell rings.

Plus, the TPMC-8X is simply sleeker than its predecessor. Crestron went with a magnesium casing so it actually looks and feels expensive. Plastic tablets, well, they can feel cheap.
Finally, you gotta love the built-in biometric sensor. If Dad scans his finger, his settings for music, Widgets, lights -- you name it -- come up. But when little Sally Jo (why are virtual kids always named Sally Jo?) scans her finger, she gets an entirely different menu, with Nickelodeon and MySpace.com front and center.

The touchscreen features 802.11 a/b/g as well as Bluetooth wireless capabilities.

It sells for about $3,800 but it's not a standalone system. It relies on other Crestron processors for control capabilities.