Neonode's zForce Pad multitouch display panel set to rock the world
By Tim Stevens 
posted February 24th 2010 8:14AM
posted February 24th 2010 8:14AM
Neonode has been keeping busy over the past few years, getting into the GPS game, smartphones, and even an e-reader touchscreen. Today it's a touchscreen of a different type, or rather a range of them, multitouch LCDs spanning from 5- to 13-inches. The suite is being demonstrated in a concept reference design called the zForce Pad, highlighting its relative thinness compared to competing products. The company is also highlighting the screen's lack of a touch-sensitive layer, meaning there's less sitting between you and your pixels -- except glass, of course. Neonode is also happy to point out that this non-resistive, non-capacitive touchscreen is being adopted by "Asian companies" but won't tell us which or when they'll be releasing product based on it. Cheeky.
@Atkins That's got me confused. Aesthetics definitely top anything I've see though...
@Atkins If I understand correctly they have their own technology called zforce
From the PR: "100% transparency (no overlay needed like in resistive or capacitive)"
Not bad at all!
@Atkins new tech or a typo ?
Jobs has his work cut out for him. It's going to be pretty easy to outdo the iPad, and here's one more company ready to do it.
@69camaroSS This is a screen-note that the article does not really call it a tablet specifically. The iPad is a fully functioning tablet. This argument already happened above, please don't start this again. I don't want an iPad either, but everyone doesn't have to compare every tablet sized touchscreen to it.
@AjWasHere
"The iPad is a fully functioning tablet"
Yikes...
@LAY
Pictures Steve Jobs holding a rock slate and a piece of chalk "It does everything we think you should be able to do." *crowd of driveling fans go wild*
@LAY Jesus, was that me? It must have been late. Anyway, considering how little most tablets do, the iPad is a full tablet, but lacks function. So I'm really only half wrong.
Has Neonode ever really released a product?
@Atkins God, this is going to be just like the iPhone;
Engadget reader: Hey, I saw some news about a tablet on the internet
Apple fanboy: OMG I am SOOOO sure it's going to be a TOTAL ripoff from the iPad!!!!!!! Look, it's even got TOUCH!! TOTAL ripoff I tell you!!!
I bought one of their smartphones about 18 months ago, it has an optical touchscreen (if I recall), it's there own technology and feels quite similar to capacitive, requires less contact, and was maybe not quite as accurate
i have got one of there phones, the n2, it shines beams of infa red light across the screen in a grid, it then checks how much light makes it to the other side to decide where your touching.. Its really nice to use with only the lightest of touches needed, and you can use gloves, have hands covered in crap, anything!!!
@Atkins Meant what was typed, it is new tech that relies on LEDs embedded in the side of the display. There's a demo at the source link if you'd like to see the details.
@Atkins From Wikipedia, zForce section of Neonode : "Light beams form an invisible grid over the screen and finger location is detected as the beams are crossed. Neither a stylus nor any pressure is needed. (Light beam touch screens date back at least to the HP 150, from 1983.)"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonode#zForce
@Atkins & @Vaio
R.I.P. BOTH products. How about hurrying up these capacitive/stylus screens, or digitizer support like the HP T series? Windows 7 will crash and burn on this device because people who wanna get real work done, won't.
@fatjoe Perhaps the guy describing the pad was talking with a german accent and he actually said you control it using 'the force'. :-)
*YAWN*
WinMo7 Series RUlezzz!!!
I wish Steve-O would see the enemy units coming up the hill and prepare for war. All we got was a lame paper-weight.
From the genus that brought us the Iphone I would have expected 10 times more!!! It makes me mad! but I moved on, Win7 is the way, but now is the battle over hardware! let it begin!
Zforce looks nice but I need to see (feel) it in action... Slate looks gold but I want to make sure I do full research before unloading my hard earned $
@DrBlaze Maybe during that research of yours, you'll find out this is just a touchscreen, not a tablet or computer of any kind.
@Atkins I have an idea....by being soo super duper uber, it makes the other screen look and perform like an iCrap
@Atkins
I think you meant, non-funny
All things (jokes) set aside, this actually looks nice (as nice as 'conceptual reference designs' get) and sounds promising if its followed through...might just the next iPad.....wait scratch that, might just be my first tablet.
Always liked the underdog Neonode. Their N1 phone (ha!) came out in 2003 with an mp3/media player and web browser, and then a touchscreen. I don't need to explain to engadget folks how popular that idea has become...
I'm coming around on the tablet idea. It'd be good as a 'kitchen' computer. Y'know, to play music and display recipes while I'm cooking and watching Hulu in bed for example.
No touch screen layer, great. Now we can finally do devices that are 0.1mm thinner.
@suncho Forget about device thickness. Touch screen layers are semi-transparent layers that block light (at least a portion thereof). That's one reason that professional monitors have lacked passive touch screen technologies (Wacom uses an active touch screen, where it requires a powered stylus).
@Vaio That's a good theory and all, except these are just LCD displays, not devices like iPads and the like.
Judging by the comments, it looks like any kind of thin display gets compared to the iPad, even though they're just LCDs. Seriously guys, get over it.
They invested the tech years ago with their neonode n1, which, I do not believe sold well, since it only supported GSM/GPRS. This system uses a grid of light ballZ3Rz though, or something. Pretty neat.
So everything is a Pad now?
does it multitouch?