Samsung's Tablet Monitor Lets You Draw on the Screen

Ever wish you could draw right on your monitor instead of fumbling with a mouse? The Samsung SyncMaster 720TD tablet monitor, introduced Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, could grant that wish.

It's obvious from the design that the 720TD isn't some garden-variety 17-inch LCD. First off, it comes with a pen-size stylus in a separate stand. Second, two big, mysterious buttons sit on the shiny black bezel. When you press the buttons, they pop up, extending hidden antennas. Then you click the stylus--just like you'd click a ballpoint pen--to activate it. With the antennas active, the screen reacts to the touch of the stylus. My Photoshop doodles looked as good as anything I've drawn on paper, and far better than anything I've produced with a standard mouse.

Samsung plans to release the 720TD later in the year. A Samsung representative estimated that it would cost less than $800.