Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft vowed that its Touch Mouse would get Windows 8 support in time for the software’s big release day, and it’s being very true to its word by posting the relevant update with less than a week to go. Mouse and Keyboard Center 2.0 saves time for those not graced with a touchscreen by introducing multi-touch swipes that bring up Windows 8’s Charm bar, switch between active apps and invoke Semantic Zoom. Will the Touch Mouse update trick you into thinking you have a Surface? No, but it’s certainly much easier on the wallet.

Filed under: Peripherals, Software, Microsoft

Microsoft Touch Mouse gets promised Windows 8 support, works like a Charm originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Oct 2012 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Creating a truly multi-user, multi-touch display is a tricky prospect. How do you know who’s who short of turning the screen into one giant fingerprint reader? Chris Harrison, Ivan Poupyrev and Munehiko Sato at Disney Research have suggested in a paper that fingerprinting on a capacitive touchscreen isn’t far off — it’s just what we need to fingerprint that matters. Rather than look for physical ridges, the scientists’ method sweeps through AC frequencies to find the exact electrical impedances of fingertips in contact with the screen. Different bodies, different clothes and even different shoes give everyone a unique signature that lets the screen identify specific people, even when they each have multiple fingers in play. The researchers propose that the technique would work well in collaborative workspaces, personalized devices and security, but let’s not forget that this is Disney we’re talking about: it’s placing a strong emphasis on the prospects for shared screen gaming without the limitations we know today. While any practical use is still some distance away, it’s easy to see future tablets and tables that are designed from the start to encourage a little socializing.

Continue reading Disney Research develops capacitive touch that detects multiple users through their fingertips (video)

Filed under: Gaming, Tablets, Science, Alt

Disney Research develops capacitive touch that detects multiple users through their fingertips (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Touch-friendliness is a centerpiece for the upcoming Office 2013, but don’t fret if you prefer to live in the world of Office Web Apps ahead of time. As of new preview versions of both OWA and Office 365, those using at least an iPad or Windows 8 will see larger, more finger-ready controls by default. The switch also tweaks the text selection, contextual menus and numerous other elements to work properly with the fleshier input, even going so far as to support multi-touch gestures like pinching to zoom. Windows users get a Touch Mode toggle if they’d rather flip back to traditional control methods. While the web support is still experimental and doesn’t have a completion date on the horizon, those willing to live ever so slightly on the edge can stay hooked on Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Word without having to use anything so archaic as a mouse and keyboard.

[Thanks, Suraj]

Filed under: Tablet PCs, Internet

Office Web Apps integrate touch support on iPad and Windows 8, brace us for an Office 2013 world originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As much as N-Trig is an old hand at supporting styluses, it’s had to focus on tablets and other larger devices due to technology limits: the HTC Flyer is about as small as the company has gone to date. A new version of N-Trig’s DuoSense chipset family could be the ticket to going to much smaller sizes. The new 4000 series condenses both pen input and multi-touch finger gestures into a combination of one chip and one sensor, letting any entrepreneurial device maker stuff the two control methods into a handheld device with as little as a 5-inch display. Naturally, the chip line scales all the way to 15.6-inch panels for creatives poking at the screens of laptops and larger Ultrabooks. We’re told that both Android and Windows slates will get N-Trig’s tinier touch tricks before the end of the year — whether or not that includes phablets with the same girth as the Galaxy Note or Optimus Vu, however, is left to our wild imaginings.

Continue reading N-Trig pen tech whittled down to single DuoSense chips and sensors, shrinks scribblings to travel size

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

N-Trig pen tech whittled down to single DuoSense chips and sensors, shrinks scribblings to travel size originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 02:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who knew giant multi-touch tables would trigger the next big speed race? Ideum clearly thinks that the PixelSense-based Samsung SUR40 is lagging with that AMD Athlon II X2, because it just rolled out a pair of speed demon 55-inch, 40-point touch surfaces (but not Surfaces) in the Platform and Pro. The Platform has a respectable dual 2.2GHz Core i7 and 8GB of RAM, but it also carries a pair of 256GB solid-state drives in case that museum exhibit app won’t load quickly enough. Hopping to the Pro switches to two not quite as speedy 500GB hard drives in standard trim. It more than makes up for this with a quad 3.4GHz Core i7 and NVIDIA’s Quadro 600 for the truly stressful projects — the combination can juggle multiple users and tasks even more smoothly than its MT55 Pro ancestor. Outside of raw speed, picking a table depends mostly on svelteness versus expansion: the Pro has a full-fledged HP tower inside that can drop in SSDs and other upgrades you might fancy, while the Platform is half as thick as a SUR40 (at two inches) and sleeker overall than its big brother. We’re working to get price quotes, but the early five-digit figures we’ve seen in the past likely rule out upgrading the family coffee table. You can convince yourself with a video after the break.

Continue reading Ideum unveils speedy Platform and Pro multi-touch tables, says PixelSense ain’t got nothin’ (video)

Ideum unveils speedy Platform and Pro multi-touch tables, says PixelSense ain’t got nothin’ (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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