http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/ Engadget Comments for MOTO touchscreen comparison recruits robotic implements for heightened precision (video) http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 7:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 7:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 8:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 8:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
Well that cuts it. I've been worried sick about which phone to buy so I can draw crosshatched lines.
]]>Mar 24th 2010 9:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
iPhone wins, staright lines.

what's going on with droid lmao]]>Mar 24th 2010 10:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 10:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://img.skitch.com/20100324-ga698dhuwr5anq24d89586u3ba.png]]>Mar 24th 2010 10:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
You call those curves straight? Yeah, they're not jagged, but they sure as hell ain't straight.]]>Mar 24th 2010 10:58AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
http://www.maclife.de/files/data/editors/2010_10/01815034e48b61ab7fec8f9ffdef3ea7_1269439495.jpg

Look at the "very light touch" test results.... :)]]>Mar 24th 2010 11:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
...or on an iPhone, apparently. It's not that the screen is capacitive, it's that Apple is the only company who figured out how to do it right.

Unless you'd like to argue with the robot about its results.]]>Mar 24th 2010 12:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
Google's Nexus One was not made to compete with current phone technology (looking at you iPhone and BB), but was intended as a proof of concept and a baseline for the new generation of superphones, which will largely run on 4G in the next few years. Google isn't using a phone to diversify into new markets, that's what their operating system does. The phone is only there to market Android well and set the baseline for superphone standards--Android OS is what will bring in the money.

Google's Nexus One isn't even competing with Apple and RIM, it's passing them on the highway and leaving them in the rearview mirror so it can take a leisurely drive in the countryside alone, and in peace. If any new phone is not AT LEAST on par with Google's Nexus One it will not make it in the future 4G market of mobile internet. Just remember: the point isn't the Nexus One phone, but the raised standard that the Nexus One phone and the Android OS represent. Since Apple seems to be the only other company capable of changing the game, I hope their shiny new iPhone 4 raises the standard even higher--after all, competition is what makes this all so worth while :)]]>Mar 24th 2010 12:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://img.skitch.com/20100324-ga698dhuwr5anq24d89586u3ba.png - hes already proved this test is BS, some guy got the same results on the droid as MOTO did on the iphone even though droid was supposedly the worst, just proves either their droid is deffective or the test is just really really crap. When you look at how much the capacitive screen costs per device its pretty much identical for all of those phones so its doubtful that they are really that different. Just tweaks in the sensitivity by each manufacturer]]>Mar 24th 2010 1:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://bit.ly/nexus-one-ripped-beginning-stage]]>Mar 24th 2010 1:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
The point of the test is to check how well the sensor works, which has implications for the accuracy of the input.

The test may have no implications whatsoever for real-world tasks, it's not really the point. The main thing to take home here is that some manufacturers actually do build quality products and deserve some respect for the effort instead of blind, prejudicial hatred.

It is seriously funny though that the Droid performed worst here. After the advertising about can do and it being a robot and then failing on probably the most mechanical of all tests you could do with one.]]>Mar 24th 2010 1:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Yeah, I'll argue with the robot's results here. There are too many other real-world examples of drawing on other phones that refute these 2 pictures, and resulted in perfectly straight crosshatches.

This experiment was designed as a "low-tech" way of measuring how well equipped all these touchscreens are. But it's bad science. I don't disagree that the iPhone has a great, high-resolution screen with great input. But several of the others do, too.

And frankly, even with the ones that fared poorly... so what? What kind of pinpoint accuracy is needed on a PHONE? It's not a CAD device, or a remote for a surgical operation.]]>Mar 24th 2010 2:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
I'd like to argue software in general. These are different phones running different apps with different multitouch api's that all can be changed through software. These articles seem to imply that it's all hardware related when it may not be. I'm not saying it's one way or another but they should surely think about that before they release results like this. There were a ton of simple 'multi touch apps' out there trying to prove that it wasn't possible several months back involved with the Android OS and it was merely bad coding.
]]>Mar 24th 2010 2:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
It could be that the iphone and the droid have the same screen quality but the iphone doesn't give "true" feedback. does anyone know?]]>Mar 24th 2010 2:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Yeah this is weird. Comes out straight on my Droid. Like a month ago there was an article on how the Droid did fine with this test and the Nexus one failed. Now it looks like the complete opposite??? ]]>Mar 24th 2010 2:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 3:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 3:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/The iPhone is the BEST!
Oh yeah!

All cheering aside, seeing this makes me even happier about my purchase.

Just goes to show the great choices Apple made when they designed the iPhone.
]]>Mar 24th 2010 3:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/"""
The Virtue of Slow

Why do you need to draw slowly? On a good touchscreen, users can draw clean straight lines, even while going very slowly, so the graphics that appear on screen accurately represent what was physically drawn.

On inferior touchscreens, it’s basically impossible to draw straight lines. Instead, the lines look jagged or zig-zag, no matter how slowly you go, because the sensor size is too big, the touch-sampling rate is too low, and/or the algorithms that convert gestures into images are too non-linear to faithfully represent user inputs.
"""]]>Mar 24th 2010 5:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 5:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
If the sensor thinks you're drawing a straight line, the display will draw a straight line.

If anything, the higher resolution would help because there's less possibility for a rounding mistake to mismatch the finger position and pixel drawn. If it was just the screen resolution, you would be able to take the 854 x 480 result from the Droid, scale it down for the iPhone and see a straight line.

Stop making excuses for inferior sensors.

Also, the places this accuracy will help most are apps like Brushes for people finger painting on a mobile device. Droid users would be able to draw the Scream painting pretty well though.]]>Mar 25th 2010 7:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/I don't know why you were down-ranked so much, but you speak the truth!]]>Mar 25th 2010 12:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
The fact that the Android devices have higher resolution is no excuse. I can't believe you used that as an excuse. The robot finger moved slowly and the "Droid" in particular tracked the worst.

It amazes me how forgiving geeks and Apple haters are for Android devices. The general public isn't as forgiving and will gravitate towards what works for them personally, not the most geeky device for geeks sake. The screen test shows why the iPhone has been a big success.

What you should be saying is you expect better from your Android device of what ever stripe it is. ]]>Mar 25th 2010 7:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Apr 7th 2010 10:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 7:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
MOTO Labs have no relation to Motorola if that's what you are inferring? ]]>Mar 24th 2010 8:25AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 10:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Its only ironic if you expected the robot to do well on the phone that performed the worst in the first place. But then I'm a stickler, don't mind me.]]>Mar 24th 2010 11:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 2:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
is it me or does this prove that humans can draw a straighter line that robots?? LOL so that's what the hell's wrong all the Prius cars ]]>Mar 24th 2010 3:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Thanks for clarifying. I should have explained, but that is what I was inferring ;) Moto and Motorola seemed pretty similar to me so I thought it was ironic that Moto Labs would put Motorola down. :P]]>Mar 24th 2010 4:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
Also I guess the iPhone does have the best touchscreen after all.]]>Mar 24th 2010 7:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/No it has the smaller resolution (4 times smaller the Droid and NExus one) and that is why the points are more precise ;)!]]>Mar 24th 2010 7:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 7:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 7:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
For the same reason though, I would assume if Apple's screen (or the robot) were imprecise, it's errors would be exaggerated more than the another screens.

I'm not sure if it becomes easier or harder to fabricate a more accurate screen at higher or lower resolutions and I think that has some relevance to the conversation since we want large, beautiful screens with loads of information but it'd be good to know if there is that inherent trade-off.]]>Mar 24th 2010 7:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 8:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
Unless you're trying to draw straight lines, it doesn't really matter one bit. What matters is can you click on a link. What matters is if your touches register in a reasonable amount of time. What matters is that you have a good experience.

I'm starting to get tired of all the false conclusions people are drawing from their experiments/research. Just because a phone doesn't draw a perfectly straight line doesn't mean the screen is "bad". It doesn't mean that the screen is any less usable. All it means, is that the screen/os combo is not as good at drawing straight lines. Without a LOT of further research (possibly mating a Droid screen to the iPhone OS, doing other point tests, etc) you cannot draw the conclusion that one screen is better than the other (in an absolute sense). If you're going to portray what you're saying as some kind of fact, at least learn statistics and proper research methods...]]>Mar 24th 2010 8:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/I love engadget commenters...]]>Mar 24th 2010 8:58AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
"Note that this has VERY little to do with the screen itself, and more to do with the heuristic functions that the OS uses to interpolate the input. So you can look at it two ways. Either the iPhone has the best heuristics and can "figure out what you meant" the best. Or the Droid does the least manipulation and doesn't try to figure out what you meant and just takes the raw (or almost raw) data for face value."

Would you then like to explain how the other devices using the android OS performed better than the Droid?

So the droids screen is crap compared to the competition. All that matters is whether you are happy with it or not.]]>Mar 24th 2010 9:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Assuming Android uses the same methods on all the device to 'interpolate' your input (I don't know enough about the inner workings of how this would work to say for certain) then surely it can be said that the only differentiating factors are the screen resolution and the quality of the touch sensors (obviously the same can't be said about the iPhone).

However, does it even matter if it the OS, the screen or the sensors that are at fault? What matters is the end experience and whilst you may be right in saying individual touches (i.e. clicking buttons) would not be affected, anything more than that that involves handwriting or drawing of any kind obviously would. Deciding whether those features are important would be up to the individual.

I personally would be willing to sacrifice some accuracy in the touchscreen in return for a (arguably) better device like the nexus one (I would like to see how the Desire does though). Having said that, the Droid did perform really poorly so if I were to consider it I would have to try it out myself.]]>Mar 24th 2010 9:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
Sure. First, the human test was performed inconsistently. I pulled up simplydraw on my Droid, and was able to make almost perfectly straight lines with no effort. Nothing like what they produced on the Droid (I did have a slight waviness to it, but no erratic jumps). Second, each screen gets its own drivers. Drivers interpolate the electrical signals and convert it to information the OS can use. So drivers could be an issue. But the important one is that the robot tests performance of a point contact. None of these phones were designed for input from a point contact (they are designed for fingers after all). The fact that the Droid's screen is worse at registering point contacts says nothing about it's ability to register fingers (which is why the conclusion that was drawn from these tests is invalid).

This comparison is akin to saying that Verizon service is crappy because it doesn't work in *Insert country here*. You're comparing an edge case that it was never designed for, and using that to draw a conclusion about the product itself. It's not valid reasoning. That's all I'm saying...]]>Mar 24th 2010 9:30AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/Mar 24th 2010 9:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
The Motorola Droid, Droid Eris, and Nexus One run Android, but have completely different touch screen drivers and kernel branches. Different drivers equals different results. It really has nothing to do with the Android specific parts of Android (if that makes any sense) - the Android framework just takes the input from the driver and feeds it to applications.

Of course, the Droid does have different touch screen hardware, and you really can't rule that out as a factor as well.]]>Mar 24th 2010 9:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
I would also like to see if all panels that use Gorilla Glass have similar issues; that would be interesting.]]>Mar 24th 2010 9:54AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/moto-touchscreen-comparison-recruits-robotic-implements-for-heig/
Thanks for the explanation. It's certainly plausible.

Well if that's the reason then Motorola need to get their finger out* and improve their software.

Still doesn't explain the poor performance on the light press test though.

]]>Mar 24th 2010 10:13AM