Hasta La Gadget!

We thought the latest version of Microsoft’s Surface was pricey at $7,600, but it’s cheapo IKEA compared to Pioneer’s WWS-DT101 Discussion Table. We just reported that this beast is due to hit the Japanese market in July, but now we discover you might need as much as ¥3million (around $37,000) plus van hire before you can cart it away. Acknowledged, it has a bigger screen and better all-round specs than Microsoft’s SUR40, and it looks pretty damn responsive judging from the video after the break. But it’s still an unlikely amount to spend on a piece of furniture that can’t even play Dungeons and Dragons.

Continue reading Pioneer’s Discussion Table gets a thumping $37,000 price tag, taken for a spin (video)

Pioneer’s Discussion Table gets a thumping $37,000 price tag, taken for a spin (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 07:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s one big, table-shaped obstacle to developing apps for Microsoft’s Surface: you kind of have to own one. A new Surface 2 SDK, landing this summer, will sidestep that problem with an input simulator so devs can test their code on any Windows 7 PC. You can tap fingers, place tags, or paint “blobs” for your virtual SUR 40 to interact with, and even fake multitouch gestures by “stamping” a finger in one spot then moving a second one. If the Surface you’re programming for happens to be movable (though we’re not sure who would put a $7,600 computer on hinges) you can also alter the tilt of the display to trigger UI changes. You’ll still need access to one of these behemoths to make sure your wares work in the really real world, but at least the preliminary work can be done on any old laptop or desktop. Frankly, this is something we’d have thought would be included from day one — as they say, better late than never.

Surface SDK gets input simulator, opens doors to indie devs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 May 2011 22:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember all that happy fuss over Samsung’s Super AMOLED display, and its more recent Super AMOLED Plus? Well now Toshiba Mobile Display has jealously stepped into the ring with its own answer to the world’s demand for thinner, lighter and less reflective LCDs. Its as-yet-unnamed technology seeks improvement in a roughly similar way to Super AMOLED, by fusing the capacitive touch layer and LCD. In so doing, Toshiba claims it can produce an integrated panel just 1mm thick, which it says is less than half the thickness of a conventional LCD touchscreen. Weight is also halved and surface reflection is reduced by 10 percent. Alas, Toshiba’s press release does not provide the stats we really want — a head-to-head comparison with Samsung’s best efforts or, say, the Synaptics ClearPad 3250 which also melds touch layer and LCD. And perhaps to avoid confrontation in the mobile arena, Toshiba emphasizes the use of its technology in “vehicle-mounted” and “industrial” applications. Seems we will have to wait until the screen is exhibited in LA next month before we know whether it is really up for a fight.

Continue reading Toshiba reveals 7-inch LCD with integrated touch, just 1mm thick

Toshiba reveals 7-inch LCD with integrated touch, just 1mm thick originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Practical or not, there is no denying the nerd-gasm inducing wow factor of Microsoft’s Surface. Of course, Surface is expensive — like, unless you’re a millionaire you’re probably not buying one for personal use expensive. There are some DIY solutions out there, but designer and developer Seth Sandler has come up with the cheapest and easiest yet. Built from about $400 worth of material (some of which you probably have lying about your home / apartment / dungeon), the MTbiggie brings big-screen multitouch to the masses. Like the hacker’s previous homebrew multitouch device, the MTmini, there’s nothing particularly difficult to find here. All you need is a couple of chairs, a mirror, a projector, an infrared webcam (which you can easily hack together with some old film negatives and cardboard), a big sheet of paper and an equally large piece of clear acrylic. Just set it all up according to the instructions in the video below and in no time you be finger painting and playing Angry Birds on a screen that dwarfs your iPad — and possibly your kitchen table, too.

Continue reading MTbiggie is a DIY Surface for the masses (video)

MTbiggie is a DIY Surface for the masses (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A force-sensitive touch screen could provide another level of interaction for tablets like the iPad 2. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The idea of a 3-D tablet or touchscreen is great, except that current hardware limits us to exploring that three-dimensional world in two dimensions.

Peratech’s QTC (“Quantum Tunnelling Composite”) Clear is a force-sensitive touchscreen that would change that. Philip Taysom, Peratech’s Joint CEO, says that the third dimension of pressure will let users “more easily manipulate and control information on the screen.”

That means artists could better create digital masterpieces on touchscreens, musicians could play their iPad tunes with greater finesse, and gamers could have additional actions and controls in their favorite titles. Applying varied levels of force could determine how deep you penetrate through a 3-D user interface.

QTC Clear (sandwiched between glass plates) could entirely replace a resistive touchscreen, or be used to enhance a capacitive one. It’s 6-8 microns thick, and can sense multitouch gestures and pressure changes of only a few microns.

Almost no current is drawn by the screen when it’s not in use, making it less of a battery-hog than the capacitive touchscreens we’re using in devices now.

Previously, QTC technology was opaque, so its applications were limited. But QTC Clear, which, like its name suggests, is transparent, already has its footing in the industry: It’s already been licensed to an undisclosed “leading touch screen manufacturer.” I can see the iPad 3 rumors lining up now.

QTC Clear [Peratech via Slashgear]