HP unveils laptop with Leap Motion alongside fanless Haswell tablet.

HP is claiming two 'firsts' here today with two new devices in familiar form factors. The first is a special edition of their 17-inch Envy 17 laptops, which features the first integrated Leap Motion gesture sensor, and the second is a 13-inch tablet that's the first to use a fanless Haswell-powered design.

The HP Envy 17 Leap Motion Edition is essentially the same as the Envy 17s that are already on the market, although this time HP has integrated a Leap Motion sensor below the keyboard, allowing you to control the system using just gestures. After the sensor has been calibrated, it can be turned on using the spacebar plus Fn key, and Leap Motion's Airspace Store has been included so you can discover cool apps to use.

When we reviewed the Leap Motion we found it to work well for hand tracking, although at times it could be frustrating to use, and apps weren't well designed for the control scheme. It'll be interesting to see how well the sensor works in laptop, as opposed to a standalone peripheral, especially as HP warns it may suck a lot of battery when being used.

Other than the Leap Motion sensor, HP's new Envy 17 also features an aluminium body, backlit keyboard, 17-inch HD+ display with touchscreen, and a choice of specs including Intel processors and Nvidia graphics. The laptop will be available on October 16th starting at $1049.99.