Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft has announced it is acquiring Perceptive Pixel, a touchscreen specialist that creates displays capable of simultaneously recognizing pen and finger input. Confirmed at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2012 in Toronto today – where Microsoft also announced the Windows 8 release dates – the deal could see Perceptive Pixel’s Active Stylus technology included in future versions of Microsoft Surface Windows tablets.

Active Stylus uses Perceptive Pixel’s projected capacitive touchscreens, which can recognize not only points of contact but when the nib is hovering up to half an inch above the display. Windows software can take advantage of latitude/ longitude, distance, time/depth, x/y/z coordinates and other information about the pen tip, before it has even touched the panel.

“Work fluidly on screen with both the stylus and your hands without the need to toggle between input modes. Our innovative controller technology flawlessly differentiates styluses from fingers while tracking input from each stylus separately and eliminating false touches. You can easily annotate or draw on screen with one hand while repositioning on-screen objects with your other hand. And you can rest your wrist comfortably on the screen as you write or draw with the active stylus because our devices recognize and reject a palm or forearm touch input” Perceptive Pixel

Perceptive Pixel is also responsible for a number of larger multitouch screens, which have taken on Microsoft’s original Surface multitouch table. Back at CES 2012 in January, the company demonstrated an 82-inch version, suitable for wall-mounting, which used Corning Gorilla Glass 2 and is just 6-inches deep overall.

Perceptive Pixel 82-inch display demo:

There are also more manageable 27- and 55-inch versions of the display, and Perceptive Pixel offers several software tools intended for use with its panels. Terms of the deal have not been announced.

Microsoft buys Perceptive Pixel for pen and multitouch expertise is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

HP has revealed a new all-in-one foursome, targeting home, business and multimedia users with fully-integrated PCs offering optional touchscreens. The HP ENVY 23 All-in-One and HP Pavilion 23 All-in-One take on the home market, with 23-inch Full 1080p displays and HP’s own media streaming software suite, while the HP Compaq Elite 8300 and HP Compaq Pro 6300 target business users.

The ENVY 23 is probably the most interesting of the four, with easy wall-mounting, an optional HDMI input for using it as a display (such as for a console) and a choice of Blu-ray and integrated TV tuner on the spec sheet. There’s also Beats Audio speakers and up to 2TB of storage.

The HP Pavilion 23 is somewhat more humble than its ENVY sibling, though offers the same 2TB storage. It comes with a choice of AMD multicore processors. It will be priced at $649.99 and the ENVY from $949.99 when they both go on sale August 2.

As for the business models, the Elite 8300 has a 23-inch display with optional two-finger multitouch, an optional 2-megapixel webcam and dual-mic array, and a choice of 2nd and 3rd gen Intel Core processors. Both integrated and discrete graphics will be available, depending on model.

The Pro 6300, finally, has a 21.5-inch display – though no touch option – and an optional 2-megapixel webcam supporting face recognition. It too offers a choice of 2nd/3rd gen Intel Core processors and optional discrete graphics. It will be priced from $799 when it goes on sale September 3, with the 8300 priced from $929 when it arrives on September 10.

HP outs All-in-One PC quartet including sleek ENVY 23 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s obviously the week for Android QWERTY candybars, with Motorola following Samsung’s Galaxy Chat with a touch-and-type of its own, the Motorola DEFY PRO. Built around a thumbboard and a 2.7-inch touchscreen, the DEFY PRO is targeted at the business user who might be bored with their BlackBerry, promising document handling as well as multi-mode support for work and play.

On the back there’s a 5-megapixel camera, with autofocus and an LED flash, and a front-facing camera above the display does for video calls. You also get WiFi and Bluetooth, along with DLNA streaming support and a 2GB card preloaded into the microSD slot.

Motorola has preset three different “Views” for different activities. Outdoor View prioritizes the weather; Hiking View uses the phone’s compass and GPS for navigating the wilderness; and Workout View offers a pedometer and calorie count, together with a stopwatch.

It’s not exactly the most inspiring of Android phones, but candybar-format devices with both QWERTY and touch are still relatively rare in the market, so fans have to take what they’re given. The Motorola DEFY PRO will go on sale in Brazil by July 15, the company says. No word on pricing, nor indeed if other countries will get the handset.

Motorola DEFY PRO targets bored BlackBerry users is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A few months ago we wrote about Microsoft’s high-performance touchscreen technology which managed to reduce the delay that users experience when using a touchscreen. While we got to see an impressive demonstration video, it wasn’t really explained how the technology worked. For those of you who are curious, you’re in luck. In a recently surfaced patent application that Microsoft filed for its technology, the details behind how it works have been revealed.
(more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft co-operative touch pen input mechanism , Microsoft patent suggests a way for users to retain the same apps when switching mobile platforms,

It’s hard not to still feel the pain over the demise of webOS, although maybe you can take comfort in the fact that HP was working until the very end on new devices. webOS Nation has unearthed a video from design company Transparent House that shows a webOS device without a portrait QWERTY keyboard. Both Palm and HP’s webOS devices offered portrait QWERTY keyboards, but it looks like a full touch experience was being working on behind the scenes.

The phone is condemned WindsorNot, showing a design that’s not too far off the HP Pre 3 or the Veer. webOS Nations notes that the back is flat, and would most likely have been constructed from glass. A microUSB port, volume, power, and ringer switch are also found on the device. The screen is said to be around 3.6-inches, and the home button looks to be physical like on the HP TouchPad.

Most notably, it would have been the first webOS device to work purely with an onscreen keyboard, although the details about how HP would implement that aren’t clear. The video showing off the WindsorKnot has been pulled from Vimeo by Transparent House, but you can check out the pictures above for a taste of what could have been.

[via Engadget]

HP WindsorNot webOS phone ditched physical keyboard is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.