The
leaked photo of the
Storm 2's internal board got our juices flowing -- and our curiosity piqued -- but this latest set of photos really takes it up a notch. In addition to showing the rest of the device inside and out, we've got a handful of new pictures showing off that piezoelectronic technology doing its thing. Basically, as we understand it, those four "buttons" which are pictured are more like sensors than buttons. When the device is on, they communicate with the screen, and when it registers enough pressure, the result is the familiar "click" that Storm users know all too well. However, when the device is powered off (or in standby mode we assume), the screen stays put, as there isn't an actual mechanism to move the screen like there was in the original Storm. Of course, we won't know how to judge it until we can actually play with a real live demo unit in the flesh, but you can definitely say that RIM has us interested. At least they weren't lying about that whole '
SurePress is here to stay' thing.
posted Aug 25th 2009 12:53PM
ITS MINE, IT BELONGS TO ME!
No, it's URS
This looks very interesting. FYI the Piezoelectric effect is used in highway truck weigh stations (among other things) by placing a mat lined with crystals that create an electric charge when pressure is exerted on them. The resulting electric charge is then measured and converted into a weight measurement. More pressure more charge so in this application using four crystals to triangulate the finger's location and amount of pressure combined with the capacitive sensor data should lead to very high accuracy. I also think they went to four a opposed to one because IMHO the one click made the screen feel wobbly. Almost like a sidekick but the flip was stuck.
So is this what they call blackberry porn?
The Post it guy strikes again!
deftinely mine
thats what she said, mr. snarky photographer ;)
Surepress... Do you know how I know when I've pressed a button on my Ion? When my finger touches the screen. I don't need a "click", "do-wap", "woo-woo" sensation as long as my fingers can tell the difference between glass and air.
I'm fairly sure the Sure Press functionality makes it so you can lightly touch the screen to highlight things or actually press down to select something. Kinda like moving the cursor with a mouse vs. actually clicking.
Or like an actual keyboard, it lets you "feel" the key before actually clicking it. I use a HTC Magic and the onscreen keyboard is nowhere near as good as the original Storm was.
But how does your iPhone tell the difference? Between a click and just a press?
I really hope this technology is adapted into other devices. Being able to do selections apposed to everything could be very useful in a lot of applications. Plus it separates scrolling from clicking which is always a plus.
The advantage with the Storm 2 is you can slide your finger along the screen to the desired key. Whereas with a capacitive screen (like the iPhone), if you are typing too fast and accidentally slide your fingertip while you move to the next key, or touch (not press) the screen slightly off center of the desired key, typos will ensue.
That's what I love about the storm, I make twice as many errors on my iPhone than I ever had on the Storm, and I'm basing that on the SurePress.
it would be cool if they make the browser have mouse over/hover capabilities.
It does have "mouse-over" abilities.
Wow!! this thing has 4 Hard Drives!!!!????
WOW THAT IS LIKE SO AWESOMO POWER!
APPLE IPHONE HAS NO CHANCE!!!
iPHone KILLER!!!
Please be kidding
you're cutting english again. get out of the library and go back to class.
Since his username is "i"-something, I'm guessing Apple fanboy, and thus, he's kidding. Maybe.
here's to hopin'
All ur phonz belongs to us
So this is just a small wii-fit board then?
I'll be the first to admit, I have no knowledge on this piezo stuff but if four is better than one, why didn't they keep the center one and have five?
Just guessing but I think that the centre one would interfere with the others and click down when one of the corners is clicked.
Keep it. I don't want that POS.. bwa ha ha.. =P
Does this make it feel any more "tactile" than the haptic feedback on some other phones?
Yes.
So essentially rather than taking all of 5 minutes to research piezoelectric screens, Jacob has just given us a news story that tells us that Engagdet doesn't really understand RIM's magic screen.
Why do you work there again ?
+1. Although I think most of us just read the wiki article which explains it quite well.
That's how Engadget rolls. Although several people have commented hundreds of times that multiple Windows 7 SKUs aren't as complex as they seem, editors here still snicker about them and make snide references like a 10 year old that just heard a dirty joke.
I expect this whole "screen voodoo" to be their next big completely-fail-to-understand concept.
Which wiki, pray tell? I don't think this works using piezoelectrics because PZT is very incompressible. How would the screen move?
I think that is exactly the point, the screen doesn't move, or at least doesn't move enough to be perceivable by the user.
The Piezo sensors likely add an additional input method. Currently touch screen phones only handle touch, that is they register when you touch the screen but can't determine how hard you actually press. The addition of the piezo sensors allows the user to both touch and press, a press being defined as a touch with more force applied. This would make typing easier as often time the user slides across an inadvertent key while typing.
I think the Wii balance board example mentioned above is perfect. The Wii balance board can recognize a wide range of pressure on the board and it doesn't actually depress when you stand on it.
Now imagine in addition to having the pressure input on the balance board imagine being able to lightly touch or slide your finger across the board as another input.
I think this is very promising. It seems to keep the benefit of more tactile typing while resolving the poor implementation of it on the storm.
Can we merge this piezoelectronic clicky technology thing with OLED and a Zii Egg? Pretty please?
NOT. CRE.
After following the first Storm, and being slapped in the face by what RIM ended up delivering, I'm *highly* skeptical here. My guess is that it'll run the same Qualcomm processor and internals as the storm 1, won't have much in the way of UI improvements, and will be another slap in the face.
I'm on my 4th replacement Storm have 2.5 years left on contract (Telus, Canada..) Never again RIM, never again.
This reminds me of how Apple's Mighty Mouse adds clicking sounds on it's own for the scroll ball and side buttons
Who the hell is URS?
Well considering RIM is on the campus of the University of Waterloo, a leading research university in the areas of electrical, computer, and nanotechnology engineering, you would expect them to be innovators and leaders in piezoelectronics. In fact, I remember covering them in my materials and semiconductor physics courses.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who gagged at the site of that white (colorware'd?) Tour?
I would never do that to my baby
The piezo elements look like the ones that were in the Motorola ROKR E8
Isn't this precisely the kind of little ignition source the Mythbusters tried to recreate but couldn't?
(In future news: All BlackBerry Storm 2 devices are now being recalled after 1337 reports of piezoelectric sparks triggering massive gas station fires across the continent!)
So, why didn't they just use this in the first place? I'd think the cost to develop and market hardware just to have it radically change the next year would be a bit much. I think we've still dug this had it been the Storm 1 and happened this year.
/shrug
Finally they added a way to get the SIM card out... no more ripping metal out of the back of my Storm 1