Atmel maXTouch technology promises bigger, better capacitive touchscreens
By Donald Melanson 
posted September 11th 2009 2:39PM
posted September 11th 2009 2:39PM
Atmel may still be hedging its bets by offering some resistive touchscreen devices of its own, but it looks like it isn't making any secrets about its belief that capacitive touch is where the real action is, as fully evidenced by the firm's wonderfully dramatic video announcing its new maXTouch technology. In addition to kick-starting "a whole new era" (period), the new platform promises to support the development of capacitive touchscreens larger 10 inches, complete with full support for zooming, rotating, handwriting, shape recognition and other advanced functionality. What's more, the first device in the line (the mXT224) promises to blow a few minds by supporting not just finger touch, but input from a stylus, fingernails, or even gloves. The entire line of devices also fully support unlimited, simultaneous touches, and supposedly boast a refresh rate and signal-to-noise ratio that's 66% better than its nearest competitor. Of course, there's no indication as to when we can expect to see the first products using the new touchscreens just yet, but the mXT224 model is available right now for any companies interested, and Atmel says additional models will be rolling out in the fourth quarter of this year and throughout 2010.
Read - Atmel maXTouch press release
Read- maXTouch video and product site
Read - Atmel maXTouch press release
Read- maXTouch video and product site
I'm a process engineer at Atmel, and I know this is going to be a breakthrough product for touchscreens. It is hands down the best microcontroller solution and capacitive touch featureset available by far. Thanks for posting, Engadget!
lol
+1
rofl
If this were actually true, you guys would have some poor Asperger's-suffering engineer rocking in his chair and covering his ears right now.
Is the capacitive screen hate that strong?
Down with BEVELS! Its no surprise any ugly phone looks ten times better without any kind of bevel.
How come all of these devices look awesome? I mean look at that netbook concept... damn!
"I" spy with my little "i" a touch screen iPod nano...
Buy why the fack would I want a security num pad to be touch screen.. you know when it goes bad its going to be a problem..
Some times pysical buttons are %110 better... Like say I dont know
A VIDEO GAME SYSTEM... that the iPoop touch is NOT..
if it is then its ass...
@iClap
Security touchscreen - Huh? Why not? ATMs use touchscreens all the time. Most people even dial phone numbers on touchscreens, ha ha.
Because when your alarm gives you 10 seconds to de-activate it, you don't want the number pad to dissapear when your touch screen kicks the bucket. Your ATM reference completely misses the point. I'm with iClap on this one...
One application is for extra security on door numberpads where every time its unlocked the digits swap around on the screen so someone filming you cannot try and repeat the code they just saw.
@plusplus
oooOOOoooo, sneaky!
Also, I'd guess that devices with non-moving parts have less maintenance than moving parts. But that's just a guess...
I've watched the vid, and it's got me interested, I'm seriously wondering how they did that with gloves and fingernails.
resistive + capacitive?
"The mXT224 is the first capacitive touchscreen solution able to support not just finger touch but also stylus, fingernails and gloves for drawing or signature capture and character recognition, thanks to its 80:1 signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and extremely fast refresh rate."
So apparently it's sensitive enough to pick up even relatively poor conductors.
Oh look..... a post about capacitive touch screens. On Engadget.
How novel.
If this is for real, then we can finally put the resistive vs capacitive debate behind us.
Unless nobody uses it... (Like that Stantum Resistive technology) :(
Does this mean the end of resistive vs. capacitive? Does it, Engadget?
No, now they are going to complain about all touchscreens other than this one which isn't even shipping yet.
"Apple decided to cut costs on the iPhone 4G by opting to use a Capacitive touchscreen instead of the maXTouch screen."
I do not know what is going on...but it gave me wood. Mission accomplished?
There we go, a resistive and capacitive touchscreen making company believes capacitive is where it's at. Bring on the resistive whiners please.
Did anyone here *not* know what "era" means?
I'm all for bigger and better.
And gloves. Now I can use touchscreens in the chilly winter air.
If this shapes out to be anything what they claim in the video, this will truly be revolutionary. Goodbye traditional capacitive and resistive. Now bring it in!
Does anyone know if that phone was ever build or is it just an ad?
It is to the left of the GPS screen and to the right of the mini ipod thingy.
Any clues will be highly thanked.
HTC EVO 4G will use this company for its new touchscreen tech. If you take a look at the video it will show how responsive the new screens will be. I think HTC did a good job changing their regular touchscreen manufacturer from Synaptics to Atmel. take a look.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/04/09/business-industrials-us-synaptics-mover_7502216.html