HP is making a line of All-in-One Desktop PCs with a touch-screen dubbed Touchsmart. The WSJ reports now that HP is planning to release a touch-screen laptop still this year.

Update: HP TouchSmart tx2 Notebook unveiled

There are no further details about the HP TouchSmart notebook available in the report.
The Asus Eee netbooks have been rumored to be getting touch-screens for the longest time now as well.
For years there have been tablet notebooks out there that offer a touch-screen interface including the HP Pavilion TX2510. It is nothing new to bring touch to notebooks. The only new thing is multi-touch, as pioneered by Apple.