Hasta La Gadget!

When the heads over at the MOTO Development Group aren’t busy outfitting E-Ink devices with Android, they can often be found looking for bigger, better, and cheaper ways to build multitouch surfaces — and they seem to be on to something. The video below shows full multitouch on a 19-inch display, although the company promises it is scalable up to at least 50-inches — and it does this without the bulky projector. The capacitive touch screen forgoes the ITO (indium tin oxide) used in devices like the iPhone, relying instead on “extremely fine” wires to conduct the signals (which are lit up here for effect — the company assures us that this will not be the case in production units). You know what this means: we may be getting that touch screen coffee table sooner than we thought! And we won’t have to buy that yacht, either. But don’t take out word for it — peep for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Video: MOTO Lab’s multitouch display scalable up to 50-inches

Filed under: Displays

Video: MOTO Lab’s multitouch display scalable up to 50-inches originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While attempts to add feedback to touchscreen displays via vibration and audible tones are laudable, these attempts are nothing by comparison to the tactile euphoria felt at the press of a well-designed button. Still, many of us are willing to sacrifice tactility in order to maximize display sizes on our pocketable or portable devices. Now researchers at Carnegie Mellon have developed touch-sensitive displays with physical buttons that “pop-out” from the surface. CM’s prototypes pump air through geometric-shaped holes to create concave or convex “buttons” on a screen covered with a semi-transparent latex — IR sensors and cameras detect finger placement while a projector cast images (like numbers and graphics) onto the display. It can even sense press-force by monitoring changes in air pressure. Sure it all sounds overly cumbersome until you see the technology demonstrated. For that you can travel to Pittsburgh to count the rivers or just hit the read link below for the video.

Read — Video
Read — Technology Review

Filed under: Displays

Carnegie Mellon morphs ‘pop-up buttons’ onto multi-touch display originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With Cowon’s S9 going 32GB a couple of weeks ago, and the iPod touch doing 32GB for eons, Samsung’s finally matching its touchscreen brethren with the 32GB P3. Unfortunately, it’s only available in Korea at the moment, for the quite reasonable price of 389,000 won — about $291 US. On an unrelated note: we hear it’s nice over there this time of year.

[Via PMP Today]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Samsung plays catch-up with 32GB P3 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s Surface has been shipping out to corporate customers for a year now, but we haven’t heard much about the backend setup of the $17,000 table — sure, we know it’s fun when it’s up and running all those custom apps, but what’s it like after the unboxing? Incredibly frustrating, says FD kinesis’s Gordon Miller. Hired to implement a Surface solution for a client, Miller and his team first spent 30 minutes on the phone with MS phone support trying to locate the power socket, and another lengthy period of time poking at an unresponsive touchscreen before realizing that the Surface doesn’t respond to touch out of the box. Yep, you read that right — Microsoft’s $17,000 big-ass touchscreen table requires a keyboard and mouse to set up, something which isn’t noted in any of the marketing or manuals. Ouch. Hopefully that’ll get fixed before this thing ships to consumers in 2011, but in the meantime, hit the read link for the entire harrowing tale — it’s a pretty fun read for a Friday afternoon.

P.S.- We actually talked to Gordon on the phone for a quick minute and he said that Microsoft’s been in touch about the experience — he’s working on an new post about that which we’ll link when it goes up.

[Via Daring Fireball]

Filed under: Desktops

Microsoft Surface setup impressions: “filled with mind-bogglingly frustrating usability issues” originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’ve seen its introduction, its unboxing — in two different languages, no less — and maybe even fancied the pre-order page. Now Pocketables has what appears to be one of the first full-fledged review of the Viliv S5, and the verdict? It’s quite a sturdy and well-built MID, with surprisingly good battery life and video performance from the Intel Atom Z520 processor (same one as found in the Vaio P). The virtual keyboard leaves a lot to be desired for, and it’s a shame to hear the joystick’s mouse functionality is limited to four directions, but despite these complaints and a $599 price tag, the conclusion is still a overwhelmingly positive for those who like the form factor. Hit up the read link for the full examination.

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Viliv S5 reviewed, is mostly smiles with good video playback originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 03:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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