May 20

Mutewatch now in production, set to silently manage your day by July (video)

Posted in: Today's Chili, touch, touchscreen, video, watch
We first caught wind of Mutewatch AB’s eponymous sort of anti-watch — a personal vibrating time management wristband, equipped with a hidden touch-activated LED display — when it became available for pre-order back in August. It seemed unique, but back then we had no idea of how it looked in action or when we might finally get one strapped onto our wrists. It’s a mystery no more, as the Swedish suite has just released a heavily stylized (and totally rendered) video showcasing the Mutewatch’s various touch-enabled functions. Also in tow, a press release announcing retail availability in July. Although our cellphones can do pretty much the same thing as this spendy $259 timepiece, we can’t hide our geeky (and guilty) lust for one. You can check out the video for yourself past the break, but be warned: a moderate case of GAS — Gadget Acquisition Syndrome — may occur after viewing.

Continue reading Mutewatch now in production, set to silently manage your day by July (video)

Mutewatch now in production, set to silently manage your day by July (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 18

Toshiba’s in-cell integrated 7-inch capacitive LCD ditches touch layer, extra girth (video)

Posted in: capacitive, hands-on, LCD, monitor, multitouch, samsung, screen, Today's Chili, Toshiba, touch, touchscreen, video

Samsung’s Super AMOLED may have beat Toshiba to the in-cell capacitive touch punch, but we’re still happy to see other LCD panels dropping unnecessary layers. Featured in a GPS mock-up, Toshiba’s 7-inch 1024 x 600 R&D display touts 10-point multi-touch over 38,400 sensors — that’s one touch sensor for every four pixels. It may not be the first LCD to abandon the standard touch layer for integrated capacitive support, but we wouldn’t shy away from a tablet or embedded screen featuring this 1mm wonder. We’ll have to wait though; Toshiba’s in-cell tech is still in R&D, with no word when or if we might see it in commercial devices. Check out the video after the break for a quick hands-on.

Gallery: Toshiba’s 7-inch integrated capacitive touchscreen concept at SID 2011

Continue reading Toshiba’s in-cell integrated 7-inch capacitive LCD ditches touch layer, extra girth (video)

Toshiba’s in-cell integrated 7-inch capacitive LCD ditches touch layer, extra girth (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 18:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 15

Samsung’s foldable AMOLED display: no creases, even after 100,000 tries

Posted in: OLED, samsung, screen, Today's Chili, touchscreen

Samsung demoed some fascinating AMOLEDs at this year’s CES, including 4.5-inch flexible and 19-inch transparent displays — neither of which, sadly, will reach the market any time soon. But the innovation train keeps on rolling, and Sammy’s Advanced Institute of Technology now has a prototype foldable display, which may or may not be the same reference design spotted at FPD 2008. Its two panels have a closing radius of only 1mm, meaning they practically touch when closed, yet show no visible crease when opened. In fact, the developers performed 100,000 folding-unfolding cycles to test the junction; the negligible 6% decrease in brightness was invisible to the human eye. They used commercially-available silicone rubber to achieve that seamless look, and the prototype featured a protective glass cover which could also function as a touchscreen. Obviously there’s a market for touchscreens you can fold up and put in your pocket; here’s hoping Samsung can make them available sooner rather than later.

Samsung’s foldable AMOLED display: no creases, even after 100,000 tries originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 May 2011 08:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePhysOrg  | Email this | Comments

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May 12

Fujitsu’s TH40/D convertible tablet slides into Japan, packs Atom Z670 and Windows 7

Posted in: intel, Japan, slate, slider, tablet, tablet pc, TabletPc, Today's Chili, touchscreen, windows 7, Windows7

A slide-out tablet running on Windows 7, you say? Not to be confused with the Samsung Sliding PC, what we have here is the Fujitsu LifeBook TH40/D that’s just been announced for the Japanese market. Inside this 2.4-pound convertible laptop you’ll find a 1.5GHz Oak Trail Atom Z670, 1GB of non-expandable DDR2 RAM, a 10.1-inch 1,024 x 600 touchscreen, a 120GB 4200rpm hard drive, and a battery life of around 6 hours. Other tidbits include 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a couple of USB 2.0 ports, HDMI-out, an SD card slot, and a teeny optical trackpad placed next to the short space bar. Can’t say we’re digging some of the limitations on this TH40/D, but if you still want one, then be ready to fork out about ¥80,000 ($990) at the end of June.

Fujitsu’s TH40/D convertible tablet slides into Japan, packs Atom Z670 and Windows 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 00:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News, IT Media  |  sourceFujitsu  | Email this | Comments

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May 12

Tokyo school takes Facebook Poking to a creepy new level (video)

Posted in: phone, remote, Today's Chili, touchscreen, video

You’ve got to hand it to Tokyo’s University of Electro-Communications, the school’s researchers have presented some truly unique methods for interfacing with our electronics — fake finger sliding, a head-mounted video display, a thing that makes it feel like you’ve got insects on your palm, and, of course, the old kissing machine. A few recent inventions have expanded the latter trend, giving us creative new ways of getting intimate with our machines. There’s the tickle interface, for one, which beams images from a connected smartphone creating the illusion that the person on the other end is tickling your palm — made all the more real by tactile vibration hooked up to the rear of the device. And then there’s the older, oddly-named Sense-Roid, sort of a clunkier version of the Hug Shirt, which, among other things, lets you “hug yourself.” Both are demonstrated in a pair of videos after the break. Whatever you do, don’t miss the second one.

Continue reading Tokyo school takes Facebook Poking to a creepy new level (video)

Tokyo school takes Facebook Poking to a creepy new level (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 16:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink DigInfo  |  sourceKajimoto Laboratory  | Email this | Comments

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May 11

Motion Computing’s CL900 tablet now available for order, starting at $899

Posted in: bluetooth, camera, enterprise, intel, rugged, Today's Chili, touchscreen, windows 7, Windows7

It’s been a while since we first laid eyes upon this rugged little guy, but Motion Computing’s CL900 tablet is finally available for orders, starting at $899. Designed with enterprise markets in mind, the 2.1-pound Windows 7 slate runs on a 1.5GHz Intel Oak Trail Atom Z670 processor and rocks a 10.1-inch, 1366×768 multi-touch display that’s shielded in Corning Gorilla Glass. Seated atop that display is a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, with a 3.0-megapixel sensor keeping watch over the backside. Boasting a thickness of 15.5mm, the device also offers up to 2GB of RAM (along with a 30GB or 62GB SSD), promises a battery life of up to eight hours and houses a USB port, SD card slot and Bluetooth 3.0 module. For now, the CL900 is only available at select retailers, though Motion is selling peripherals and accessories directly from its site. Check out the source links for more details.

Motion Computing’s CL900 tablet now available for order, starting at $899 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMotion Computing, (2)  | Email this | Comments

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May 10

Microsoft’s Rock and Rails touchscreen lets you massage your photos with both hands

Posted in: interface, Microsoft, research, screen, Today's Chili, touchscreen, ui
If you ever get tired of poking away at your smartphone’s screen like a doorbell, you’re not alone. The forward-looking folks over at Microsoft Research have been working away at a new touchscreen system designed pick up on more natural, whole-hand movements, effectively allowing users to break free from the finger-based paradigm that governs most tactile devices. Developed in coordination with engineers at Microsoft Surface, the company’s Rock and Rails interface can detect three basic hand gestures: a balled fist, which holds items on the screen, an extended hand that can align objects (see the cell marked “d,” on the right) and a curved paw, around which users can pivot images (see cell b). This taxonomy opens up new ways for users to crop, re-size or generally play around with their UI elements, though it remains unclear whether the display will trickle down to the consumer level anytime soon. For now, it appears to operate exclusively on the Surface, but more details should surface when the system’s developers release a paper on their project, later this year. Hit the source links to see a video of the thing in action.

Microsoft’s Rock and Rails touchscreen lets you massage your photos with both hands originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 00:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CrunchGear  |  sourceMicrosoft Research (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

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May 04

Nose Stylus for Phones Is Not to Be Sniffed At

Posted in: Hacks, Mods and DIY, Today's Chili, touchscreen

You may laugh, but Dominic Wilcox is able to use his touchscreen phone in the bath without getting it wet. Photo courtesy Dominic Wilcox.

Designer Dominic Wilcox has come up with a Pinocchio-style “finger-nose stylus” that lets you navigate your touchscreen phone hands-free.

He came up with the design after he found that he wanted to use his touchphone in the bath. A wet hand is not a good touchscreen navigation device, so he found himself using his nose to scroll, but found it hard to see precisely where his nose was touching the screen.


wireduk

The solution was to create a nose extension “finger” that would allow for navigation while holding the phone firmly in his one dry hand (he did not want to risk scrolling and holding with the same hand for fear of dropping the phone).

The stylus comprises a capacitive end point attached to a plaster nose measuring around five inches in length and affixed to the face with elastic. The elongated nose allows the user to navigate around the screen with accuracy.

In Wilcox’s inaugural nose-tweet from the bath he wanted to type “Hello I am tweeting with my nose”, but due to the phone’s auto-correct it came out as “hello I am meeting with my nose”. Apparently this caused him to lose twoTwitter followers.

Wilcox has a track record for creating extraordinary items such as luxury skimming stones that are covered in 24ct gold leaf and contained within a leather pouch. He has also created stickers that can be placed on bikes or cars to make them look as though they are rusty and old as an anti-theft device. Another notable product is “War Bowl“, a bowl made out of melted plastic toy soldiers.

Don’t miss Wired UK’s gallery of the nose stylus in action, and then check out some more of Wilcox’s weird and wonderful creations on his website.

This story originally appeared on Wired UK.

See Also:

Previously:


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Apr 29

Pioneer AppRadio brings apps, iPhone connectivity to your dash

Posted in: Apple, AppleIphone, ios, iPhone, leak, leaked, mod, Today's Chili, touchscreen

If Pioneer’s AppRadio (SPH-DA01) ever sees the light of day, it’ll join a long list of integrated and aftermarket products trying to play off of the iPhone’s success. According to CrunchGear (and its anonymous tipster), the FCC-leaked device boasts a 6.1-inch touchscreen and built-in apps, along with a USB port for accessing content (and presumably, the data connection) on your iOS 4.1 devices. We imagine the hardware to be similar to the 6.1-inch AVIC-X930BT that Pioneer announced at CES, including Bluetooth connectivity, a microSD card slot, and GPS functionality, in addition to an AM/FM radio and single-disc CD player. iPhone connectivity really sets this receiver apart, along with the inclusion of additional apps, such as Pandora and iHeartRadio, with the possibility of adding more apps in the future as well. We’re incredibly skeptical about the device’s GUI having any basis on the mockup image above, but if graphics are anything like those on the models we saw at CES, we don’t expect to be disappointed either.

Pioneer AppRadio brings apps, iPhone connectivity to your dash originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceTechCrunch  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 26

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

Posted in: LCD, monitor, multitouch, samsung, screen, Today's Chili, Toshiba, touch, touchscreen

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.

Permalink   |  sourceToshiba Mobile Display  | Email this | Comments

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