Hasta La Gadget!

Kinect has already received its fair share of excited attention from developers, but Microsoft is still exploring its limits, too—and has managed to make it respond to mid-air, multitouch gestures. More »

Previous attempts at turning TVs and monitors into huge tablets were either very expensive or were DIY projects. We’ve seen cheap Android-on-a-stick devices, but they don’t have the full functionality of a tablet, i.e. multitouch. Archos wants to cover all bases – availability, price and features – with the TV Connect.

Unlike Android sticks, the TV Connect is barely portable. It’s clearly meant to be your HDTV or monitor’s permanent sidekick. The unit itself sits on top of your TV like a Kinect. It runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, has a 1.5GHz “multi-core” CPU, 1GB RAM and 8GB of Flash storage that you can augment with microSD cards. It also has a front-facing camera, an Ethernet port, Wi-Fi connectivity, mini-HDMI-to-HDMI output, a micro-USB port and a USB host port. Then there’s the huge-ass controller.

The controller makes it possible to use touch commands even though you don’t have a touchscreen TV or monitor. You can move the entire controller to use it like a mouse cursor, while you can use the thumb sticks to emulate multitouch gestures like pinching or scrolling. Archos also claims that you can map virtual buttons in games to the TV Connect’s gamepad buttons using their software. Beyond giving you access to Android’s apps, the TV Connect also has a built-in media player.

The controller looks silly and its weight – which Archos didn’t mention yet – could be a dealbreaker. Still, if it does the job I wouldn’t be surprised if this product takes off. I think an integrated sensor like the Leap would be a much better control solution though. The TV Connect should be available by February for $130 (USD), although I’m sure you’ll be able to pre-order it later this month.

[via Archos]

Elecom released in Japan a new multitouch trackpad, the M-TP01DS, designed for both Windows 8 and Windows 8 RT. Thanks to this USB (Wireless) Trakcpad you will be able to fully enjoyed Windows 8 gesture control and compatible with none the less than 18 of them. The M-TP01DS will be sold in Japan starting January 2013 and will cost a little bit less than 11,000 Yen.

Apple was granted a couple of interesting patents today (spotted by AppleInsider), including one for multitouch surfaces embedded in devices that appear and disappear as needed, as well as a new cooling apparatus design that can redirect air to where it’s needed most within a device. One is just a twist on tech Apple already uses, and the other is something that could address warm lap issues everywhere.

The first patent for “microperforation illumination” covers some designs already found in Apple’s Mac computers, specifically the sleep and power lights that glow through the aluminum casings of its computers seemingly without a dedicated opening for doing so. It describes the tech that allows for light to shine through tiny, nearly invisible holes punched in a metal surface, but expands on the concept considerably by discussing ways in which to control the resulting light, and a means through which microperforation can be combined with touch controls.

One implementation described in the patent features an Apple logo like the one found on the lid of MacBooks, except composed entirely of microperforations so that it vanishes completely when the computer is asleep or shut down. Other uses could be in interface devices like mice and keyboards, to provide key illumination in a manner more aesthetically pleasing than current keyboard backlighting or to indicated contextually relevant touch controls on an otherwise unmarked trackpad, for instance.

The other interesting patent granted to Apple today describes a “method and apparatus for cooling electronic devices,” which differs from your standard internal computer fans. It employs a solid state air moving device called an ionic wind pump that can redirect air to specific parts of a computer’s internals, using magnets to dictate the path of cool air. Internal sensors could detect exactly where cooling is needed most, and the pump system could target that area for maximum effect, reducing power demands and wear on cooling systems and computer components.

This would help with keeping noise levels down, and also Apple describes its potential for both computers and mobile devices, so it could also alleviate some of the heat issues we’ve seen users note in the past with regards to iPads and iPhones. It’s not exactly clear how this system would compare to mechanical fans in terms of physical footprint, but it could also theoretically provide a space savings advantage, crucial to Apple’s ever-slimming case designs.

How likely are these designs to make their way into shipping products? Well Apple already uses microperforation lighting effects on its hardware, so an expansion of that is definitely feasible. I find it hard to imagine the company making its iconic logo invisible when a computer isn’t in active use, but that particular use of the tech would lead to amazingly sparse industrial design, which could become iconic in itself. And alternative ways to cool computers that decrease power requirements and make those efforts more invisible to the end user definitely seems like a pursuit Apple would consider worthwhile, but it could also tackle the issue from other directions, including processor engineering. Still, compared to a lot of Apple patents, these are hardly far-fetched designs in terms of their potential for inclusion in future shipping devices.

Once again, a decision has been made on an Apple versus Samsung patent dispute. This time, it’s a Dutch court in the Hague, ruling that Samsung does not infringe on a Cupertino patent relating to certain multi-touch commands that the Korean firm implements in some of its Galaxy phones and tablets. This isn’t the first time that the Netherlands-based court has found in favor of Samsung, and Apple had already lost a preliminary injunction on this same patent last year. Reuters also reports that the Hague court’s decision comes in the same week that the International Trade Commission is expected to decide about further patent disputes between the two firms, which went in favor of Apple the last time around. At the very least, this long and bumpy ride isn’t over yet.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

Dutch court rules that Samsung didn’t infringe on Apple multi-touch patent originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Reuters  | Email this | Comments