HP made a deal with Leap Motion a couple of months ago, and we're now seeing the first fruits of that partnership in the Envy 17: a big laptop with Leap's motion control technology built in.
As a PC, the Envy 17 is an outlier -- its 17.3-inch screen pushes the upper limit of portability, but no doubt makes it easier to embed the Leap controller. The motion sensor, which is precise enough to discern all 10 fingers on a user, is on a thin horizontal strip that sits to the right of the trackpad.
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The sensor is thinner and longer than the standalone Leap sensor you can buy today. Leap specially designed a sensor to fit inside a laptop chassis, and at 0.14 inches in height, the company says it's the "smallest embeddable 3D motion control technology" in the world. Leap's app store, Airspace, is pre-installed on the machine along with drivers for the controller, so you can start using it out of the box.
With or without the Leap, the Envy 17 is a powerful Windows PC. The screen is full HD (1,920 x 1,080), it's powered by a fourth-generation ("Haswell") Intel Core i7 processor, and it includes a 1TB hard disk on board for storage. Buyers will be able to upgrade from Intel graphics to Nvidia.
When Mashable checked out the Leap Motion controller, we found some bugs, but a fascinating attempt at creating a new experience for controlling a PC. As with any new platform, though, it lives and dies by its apps. Right now there are few that truly bring out the Leap's potential -- but they exist.
The world's first Leap Motion-enabled laptop starts at $1,049.99. It will be available in October.
Would you buy a laptop with motion controls? Let us know in the comments.
BONUS: Leap Motion: Gesture Control Takes a Shaky Step Forward
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