Hasta La Gadget!

We’re not going so far as to suggest that this here patent application foreshadows the kind of keyboard that’ll be on a certain Apple tablet that may or may not be real, but if the suits in Cupertino do actually have such a device in the works, they’d be silly to not apply this technology to it. Dug up by Apple Insider, the latest app details a multitouch tactile keyboard that would boast a dynamic surface for helping typists keep track of where they’re at on the board. Essentially, the surface would utilize an “articulating frame” in order to raise and retract bumps to make typing without physical keys a wee bit easier, and while we’re certain that it would take some getting used to, it’s bound to be simpler than banging on a static surface that requires your eyes to be on it. Don’t go getting your hopes up, though — wouldn’t want to get them crushed when late January brings you an iPod touch with a camera, now would you?

Latest Apple patent app details multitouch tactile keyboard originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 04:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Step aside, VAIO P, Fujitsu’s managed to take too-small screens on netbooks to new heights with the UH900, and the addition of a touchscreen makes you seem seriously early 2009. So, how does it perform? UMPC Fever is feeling it, with a CrystalMark score helped along by the UH900’s SSD, even if done few favors by the 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor. Unfortunately, while the touchscreen display does offer multitouch gestures, they seem rather laggy — as demonstrated in the video after the break. And thus we witness the odd disconnect of “laptops” and “phones,” as the screen size and processor speed borders on a merging point and the interaction styles (or at least the execution on those styles) almost couldn’t be further apart.

Continue reading Fujitsu LifeBook UH900 in action: good benchmarks, so-so multitouch

Fujitsu LifeBook UH900 in action: good benchmarks, so-so multitouch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our buddy Tnkgrl just had a sit down with Google and HTC’s lovedroid, the Nexus One. She “wasn’t allowed” to take pictures or video but she came away with plenty of detail. The biggest point of clarification might not be what’s included in the handset, but what’s missing: multitouch. She confirms, “no multitouch support in the browser or in Google Maps,” just like Verizon’s Droid (but available on its European Milestone brother). The unit she tested included a 4GB microSD card, 1400mAh battery, worked on T-Mobile’s 3G only (AT&T is limited to EDGE data), and was “super snappy! Faster than the Droid.” She also noted “gold contacts” along the bottom edge presumably for a docking port thus jibing with whispers of a Nexus One Car Dock accessory. Now hit the read link for all the details if you still have the strength.

P.S. We should probably clarify that while the Google Apps tested don’t respond to multitouch, the OS and hardware are presumably multitouch capable. See our previous exhaustive analysis of this topic if you’re wondering why.

Google’s Nexus One lacks multitouch originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big screen touch panels aren’t anything new (or fancy), but a 21.5-inch capacitive touch panel is definitely pushing “drool-worthy” territory. In a presumably dingy corner of some overseas show floor, it looks as if Chunghwa Picture Tubes (or CPT, as the cool kids call it) has one of those very displays out for public viewing. Reportedly, the 21.5-incher has yet to reach mass production, but it’s currently shipping 10.1-inch versions to an undisclosed amount of customers. As of now, the big boy is being “validated by clients,” which means it’ll probably be ready for mass consumption between next year and next century.

Chunghwa Picture Tubes churns out 21.5-inch capacitive touch panel originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a good while since we’ve seen an unboxing as thorough as this, even if the quality of the recording could be better. The chaps over at Wow Pow have sourced one of them dual-screen Kohjinsha DZ netbooks, which have had us intrigued since we saw them at CEATEC earlier this year. What we find from their cardboard adventuring is that the DZ comes with a LiteOn charger, a 6-cell 5,200mAh battery with endurance rated at four hours (though they’ve suggested that might be for only one screen), a 1Seg tuner that works only in Japan, and a multitouch trackpad. Powered by a 1.6GHz AMD Neo and 4 gigs of RAM, this machine definitely wants to escape the netbook tag, and its neat inclusion of an internal USB port intended for wireless connectivity dongles gives it another unorthodox selling point. Go beyond the break to see its de-boxing.

Continue reading Kohjinsha DZ gets unboxed and stretched out

Kohjinsha DZ gets unboxed and stretched out originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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