In case you weren't aware,
Synaptics dabbled in the touchscreen handset game way back in 2006 with the
Onyx concept, before phones like the
LG Prada and Apple's iPhone came along and proved the idea so convincingly. However, Synaptics thinks innovation has stagnated since, and has girded itself once again to attempt another trend-setting concept. This one's a bit more wild: the "Fuse" involves contributions from Alloy,
TAT,
Immersion and
Texas Instruments, and includes squeeze, tilt and haptic interaction. The big idea is to approach single-handed and no-look operation on a touchscreen handset, no small feat to be sure. The result is a pure kitchen sink of sensors, including a touchpad on the back of the phone, touch and pressure sensitive strips along both sides of the phones, dual haptic feedback motors, a 3-axis accelerometer and of course a new-generation Synaptics touchscreen in front. The TI OMAP 3630 processor powers the TAT Cascades 3D UI Engine which attempts to contextualize UI interaction with perspective tilts and fancy motion, and the haptics feeds back to let you know where your finger is on the screen -- an attempt to emulate feeling out the correct nub for keypad orientation on a button phone. We'll have to play with it to find out if Synaptics is really on to something, but even if the Fuse isn't the next best thing, we could certainly see somebody using some of these sensors to improve existing handset interaction. Check out a quick video after the break.
posted December 14th 2009 11:34AM
i'd buy thatbitch
@John Stathakis Yes, smells like iPhone killer......
Not
@LowestRanked living up to your name I see.
Reminds me of Ranka's phone from macross frontier (if you guys watch that sort of thing).
@7egend
i always wanted a phone like hers.
@7egend
That's what first jumped into my mind when I saw it too. Except hers seemed to be part Tamagochi as well. Which would be another interesting upgrade in the interface; where you phone literally become a personal assistant that communicates back to you.
Also doubles as a stress ball!
@Joe Cool it costs $9.99 for that app though
Something looks really fake about that video. When the hand moves the device the screen doesn't move correctly with it.
@jonny polite
Yes, it's a fake, the interface is added on top of the video. Very clear at the end, and even before if you pay attention. Cheap cheap cheap!
@jonny polite
motion tracking fail. the tracking markers are on the background and not on the device itself.
look at the background. thats what those crosses are for.
Awesome!
Also, btw, why aren't the gestures presented on the Onyx standard for every touch smartphone yet?
Are they patented? That'd be a great addition to multitouch
I'd totally buy this phone here, it's an awesome innovation=) this and the touch gestures should be integrated into the First ELSE (remember that UI-standard-breaking phone, right?) and my dream phone is ready =p
I dont know... aside from a few animations I see nothing special about this. Adding multiple interface inputs all around the device might make this to confusing for the average user... just my 2 cents.
@zipp
You're right. It's a little like the English language being too confusing with multiple spellings for similar sounding words.
@ArhcAngel
Well considering most of us learn English from the second we're born I'm not sure your analogy can apply to what I'm saying... but you might be onto why English is so complicated to learn as a second language.
If you look at this from a UI standpoint (not GUI) then you should be able to clearly see why so many interface points could be confusing to the everyday consumer... as opposed to geeks like us that frequent engadget.... just saying.
@zipp
word!
People'll get used to using that thing as well as to touchscreen phones. I don't wanna know how many people said that there couldn't be a phone without keys when the touchscreen concept came out... Just wait for Apple to adopt this idea and you'll see how it's gonna work hehehe
OMap 3630 = OMG!
Yeah, it's a fake OS...why would they spent all that time writing drivers for all those sensors and implementing API stuff into android, or whatever OS -- just for a concept phone?
Great concept.
Gives you virtual buttons on the sides to play games without obscuring the screen.
And maybe using back touchpad can display cursor on screen to use in lieu of touching the screen.
@masimons Agreed. Not sure I need these sensors integrated into the standard OS myself, but for gaming I can see some of these being good additions. Wouldn't you prefer to use the side sensors in certain games rather than on screen arrow controls to turn or fire? Hopefully Apple is thinking about stuff like this since it wouldn't add buttons, and might not be that expensive...
@masimons
it's a proof of concept doesn't necessarily mean it's a final product
Wheel.
Of.
Fortune!
I already have this. When I squeeze the sides of my iphone, it interprets this as random volume changes.
The squeezing sides of this phone is clearly a ripoff from Apple's Mouse Formerly Known as Mighty Mouse. Clearly.
Oh..those grinds and icons remind me of something...emmm...
Anyway, this phone is bad. So many freaking we-can't-realize-ir-today uncomfortable but cool ideas. Example: ELSE phone
'a touchpad on the back of the phone, touch and pressure sensitive strips along both sides of the phones, dual haptic feedback motors, a 3-axis accelerometer and of course a new-generation Synaptics touchscreen'
Wow.
Just get me some buttons on the damn thing.
An animated overlay is not a good way to sell a product. Especially as poorly done as this. To me that says, "Hey, our actual working product sucks, but this is how it should look".
i found a video, but it looks pretty weird o.o
http://www.tvlesson.com/video/43531_synaptics-fuse-cell-phone-review.html
lame :|
oooh a text *SQUEEZE*
Hmm. Wonder if it'd run afoul of any AT&T device's name.
HOAX!
This video is a big fake:
You can clearly see that the interface is added after the shooting;
There are motion-tracking points around the bachground;
No real screen reflects the shadow of a finger while it's ON - this is a graphic failure of whoever designed that clip;
In the 3 cuts where the device doesn't move, it's because that is not a video but a frame-capture/freeze;
The device shown in the clip doesn't even have a screen - you can clearly see that in the last cut, when the failed motion-tracking reveals a clean white PLASTIC!
You were led on...