Hasta La Gadget!

Sony just threw itself fully into the touchscreen Windows 8 arena — it’s introducing the VAIO Duo 11 slider tablet and the Tap 20 combination desktop and tablet design at its IFA 2012 press conference. The Duo 11 is a noticeably amped-up realization of the Hybrid concept we saw at CES. Its 11.6-inch, 1080p touchscreen is joined by a proper digitizer stylus for low-lag handwriting as well as some seriously powerful innards for a convertible PC its size: we’re talking an Ultrabook-level Core i3, i5 or i7 as well as a 128GB or 256GB SSD, NFC wireless, GPS, and HD-capable cameras at the front and back. Sony is hoping for a late October release for this beast of a slate, although we haven’t been given that all-important price.

The VAIO Tap 20, meanwhile, is more than just a tilting all-in-one desktop in the vein of Lenovo’s IdeaCentre A720. Despite carrying a 20-inch, 1,600 x 900 touchscreen, it’s still very much battery-powered — you can lug the 11.4-pound PC into the living room and treat it like a tiny multi-touch table, if that’s your inclination. It’s sharing the same processor picks as the Duo 11, but it turns to more conventional 750GB or 1TB hard drives and puts the emphasis on shareable apps like Family Paint and the Fingertapps Organizer calendar. Not surprisingly, there’s only one, front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera here, although NFC does make the cut. The Tap 20 is due to arrive at about the same time as its smaller Duo 11 sibling, although we’re once again without details of how much it will cost.

Continue reading Sony unveils VAIO Duo 11 slide-out tablet, Tap 20 portable touchscreen all-in-one

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets

Sony unveils VAIO Duo 11 slide-out tablet, Tap 20 portable touchscreen all-in-one originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 10:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With Windows 8 on the horizon, Samsung is wasting no time preparing for the touch-friendly Microsoft offering with not two, but three all-in-one units, the Series 5 selection here bringing on a lovely 21.5-inch display. The display on this machine has a sharp definition of 1920 x 1080 pixels and, like the other AIO units revealed today, brings 10 point capacitive touchscreen action for the next generation of computing. This unit is unique in Samsung’s collection at IFA 2012 in that it’s made specifically to work with the wireless keyboard and mouse it comes with – it all packs together so well!

While other units are indeed made to be working with their included keyboard and mouse, this Samsung Series 5 AIO PC is made to not only work well with its components, but to treat them like actual pieces of a full machine, not just accessories. Also included here is Genuine Winodws 8 64-bit software right out of the box. Running this interesting beast is an Intel Core i3 – 3220T processor (Ivy Bridge) paired with 4GB DDR3 system memory at 1600MHz (with the ability to upgrade to 8GB, mind you.)

Inside you’ll find a 500GB hard disk drive (HDD) and Intel HD Graphics 4000 to make sure everything is pretty. This machine comes with a DVD +/-RW Super Multi Dual Layer (S-ATA) disk drive and works with a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front so you can video chat and work with hand gesture recognition. This gesture situation allows you to turn your volume up with a twist of your hand, and to stop a movie with a simple double-wave – and that’s just the start of it all. You’ll have so many gestures available to you from 3 feet away from the screen, your head will spin.

This machine also has 3 USB 2.0 ports, 2 USB 3.0 ports, HDMI in/out, LAN, and a 3-in-1 Multi-card slot so you can read just about anything. Included with the machine, of course, is your wireless keyboard and wireless mouse – but you also get a remote control as well. The whole package will cost you just MSRP $749 USD, and the whole machine is made for locations that you’d otherwise struggle to find room in – hence the “kitchen PC” suggestion. This unit will be available starting on the 26th of October, 2012.

Check out the rest of our coverage of Samsung as well as the rest of the manufacturers taking part in IFA 2012 through our IFA 2012 tag – and stick around the SlashGear main news feed for everything else popping up in the gadget universe as well!

Samsung Series 5 all-in-one PC brings Windows 8 to the kitchen is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Freescale is announcing a new industrial touch sensing technology that’ll even sense your swipes and prods through a film of water. Xtrinsic 3.0 is designed to be used in industrial, medical and in-car systems, with pre-built user interfaces ready to be added to any device its jammed inside. In addition to being able to work through water, it can withstand noise, detect electrical interference and reduce false touches. It’s being demonstrated at the company’s technology forum in India from today, presumably ready to be licensed by passing equipment manufacturers in short order.

Continue reading Freescale’s new industrial touchscreen tech even works in the rain

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Freescale’s new industrial touchscreen tech even works in the rain originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 01:30:00 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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This week in the continuing trial of Apple vs Samsung (and Samsung vs Apple, incidentally) we’re seeing Samsung bring on an offensive with none other than the touchscreen table known as the MERL DiamondTouch. This device was first revealed back in 2004 and shown off across the United States throughout 2005 to parties that included Apple. The point of action here is a patent for “Snap Back”, a feature which informs a user on a touch-screen device that they’ve reached the end of a document – Samsung says that it wasn’t Apple, but MERL, who invented such a function.

Samsung brought computer graphics expert Andries van Dam to the stand where he let the jury know that, in regards to Apple’s patent for “Snap Back”, that the officials in charge of granting the patent must have been uninformed. “The patent examiner didn’t have the benefit of this knowledge of prior art. If he did, he wouldn’t have been able to issue the patent.”

Below: an early demonstration of MERL DiamondTouch functions:

This same patent was testified on in the case by Apple witness Ravin Balakrishnan, a University of Toronto computer science professor. He spoke about the Snap Back function with conviction as well, saying there was no prior art: “no one solved the problem before Apple.” But what Samsung brought to the courtroom this week was not just the idea that the Mitsubishi Electric Research Lab (MERL) device existed, they brought the device itself.

Samsung was asked to bring out the original DiamondTouch device and set it up in the courtroom, which they certainly did do. Van Dam was asked whether he thought the device would be considered a touch-sensitive computerized system. He responded, “Absolutely. In every way, a touch-screen display.”

Apple’s defense in this particular situation rests on two points, the first being that this device simply isn’t close enough to the iPhone’s design to consider the Snap Back patent one that needed a mention of it as Prior Art. The second is the fact that Apple certainly did see the device back in 2005. Adam Bogue, a business development manager for DiamondTouch, spoke earlier this week about his visit with the machine to Apple headquarters.

In 2005, Bogue stopped by Apple in Cupertino, California. There he had an Apple engineering team watch him use the machine in a demonstration he was also touring through universities across the nation. Bogue did not present Apple with any non-disclosure agreement at the time, but Apple did have Bogue sign an agreement that prevented any information he provided from being confidential. Apple’s need to have this device listed as Prior Artwork on the patent they hold for Snap Back may hinge on that one signing of an agreement. On the other hand, the more important point may be that Apple did not list the device at all, with or without its similarity to the iPhone in hardware likeness.

Keep up to date on this trial in the timeline below, and stick around – this thing may very well go to jury, then we’ll see some real fireworks!

[via Information Week]

Samsung places faith in massive touchscreen table vs Apple is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.