MultiTouch posts
We love us a good multitouch wall experience, sizing up and rotating irrelevant bits of media like the Tom Cruise wannabes we are, but this new multitouch wall unveiled by Schematic at the Cannes Lions advertising festival almost brings the tech into the realm of relevance. The main innovation is the identification of specific users through the swipe of an RFID badge, allowing multiple users to operate the display simultaneously with personalized data and "social" functionality. Schematic's dream really is a Minority Report-style world of advertising, but until that chilling future is fully realized, we suppose we can handle a few gimmicky multitouch walls and half-developed socializing functionality in the near term. Hit up the read link for video.
ASRock Multibook G22 packs Ion, Atom 330 and a multitouch trackpad into 12-inch laptop
ASRock isn't exactly the very first company we think of when it comes to innovation, but the ASUS spinoff actually has a pretty good track record of going out on a limb. The new Multibook G22, for instance, combines the dual core Atom 330 processor, NVIDIA Ion, 2GB of RAM, a feature-rich multitouch trackpad, and a widescreen 12.1-inch 1366 x 768 display. It still feels "netbook-ey" for our money, but in a good way. Other perks include a 10-in-1 card reader, big people hard drive capacities (320GB instead of the 160GB netbook max), VGA and HDMI, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a DVD burner. It all weighs in at over 3.3 pounds without battery, and measures more than an inch thick. Yeah, those last few bullet points might throw this out of the realm of netbook contention, but at least there's an Atom processor in here keeping things slow enough for the most basic of tasks. No word on price or availability.
Update: According to Liliputing, ASRock has made contact and states that the G22 is actually running an Intel CULV processor and chipset, instead of Atom and Ion -- bad news for Ion junkies, good news for CULV lovers. A bit of a mixed bag, if you ask us.
[Thanks, Shawn]
Update: According to Liliputing, ASRock has made contact and states that the G22 is actually running an Intel CULV processor and chipset, instead of Atom and Ion -- bad news for Ion junkies, good news for CULV lovers. A bit of a mixed bag, if you ask us.
[Thanks, Shawn]
Probably-fake video roundup: 24-inch iPhone OS, PS1 emulation on the Pre
This video of iPhone OS 2.x running on a 24-inch multitouch monitor from Swedish design firm Dreamfield is almost certainly fake, but hey -- it's Sunday night, nothing's going on, and we were thinking about how well touch-specific systems would work on a larger screen after seeing those CrunchPad videos anyway, so we thought we'd get some conversation going. We'd be willing to bet that a future Apple tablet has more in common with the experience shown in this video than with what we currently think of as OS X, but we're not so certain we're seeing anything here that makes us want to throw our mouse or keyboard away -- or spend the entire day with gorilla arm. So -- artfully mocked-up glimpse of the future, or just a pipe dream?
Keeping with the likely-fake theme, there's also a probably-fake video of SNES and PS1 emulators running on the Pre, controlled by a Bluetooth gamepad. Yes, it's incredibly awesome -- and undoubtedly possible -- but until we see some evidence of how things are loaded up and connected with the gamepad we're sticking it in the fake category as well.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Keeping with the likely-fake theme, there's also a probably-fake video of SNES and PS1 emulators running on the Pre, controlled by a Bluetooth gamepad. Yes, it's incredibly awesome -- and undoubtedly possible -- but until we see some evidence of how things are loaded up and connected with the gamepad we're sticking it in the fake category as well.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Brando offers up wireless HTPC keyboard with multitouch trackpad

Brando may be best known for some of its slightly off the wall products, but it also carries plenty of less fanciful gadgets, like this HTPC-minded keyboard with a still relatively uncommon built-in multitouch trackpad. As you can sorta see above, that also doubles as the numeric keypad, and you can switch between the two functions at the press of a button, but not a swipe, apparently. Otherwise, you'll get a 2.4GHz RF USB transmitter that can be tucked into the keyboard itself if you don't feel like actually using it, along with 18 presumably customizable hotkeys, and support for Windows XP and Vista, but not Macs. $69 and it's yours.
Synaptics shows off new MacBook-style "ClickPad" multitouch trackpads for netbooks
Synaptics has always been quick to pick up the latest innovation in the multitouch space -- whether its own functionality, or something Apple's brewed up. This latest innovation is squarely in the latter category, with new ClickPad trackpads offering that love-it-or-hate-it buttonless design of the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros (pictured). Synaptics is targeting the new pads at netbooks, which many manufacturers have had trouble fitting regular clickers onto. ClickPads work with Synaptic's latest Gesture Suite 9.1, which includes all the regulars, along with three-finger flick and three-finger press, which lets you start up your computer along with up to six predetermined startup apps. SGS 9.1 is also officially Windows 7 ready, and will be available in OEM systems out of the gate.
Microsoft Touch Pack brings Surface experience to Windows 7

Read - Windows 7 Team Blog
Read - GottaBeMobile's hands-on
Immersion demos new TouchSense multitouch, haptic keyboard at D7

Update: Press release after the break.
Touchpanel Laboratories shows off touchscreen with 9-point detection

It's not exactly as impressive as a touch panel with unlimited points of input, but this new resistive touch panel with 9-point detection from Touchpanel Laboratories is still a cut above most and, better still, it seems to actually be ready to head into production. Unfortunately, details are otherwise a bit light, but the company does say that they're able to make panels ranging in size from four to 15 inches. Touchpanel Labs didn't stop there, however, and also took the opportunity to show off a touchpanel that can be installed on curved surfaces, as well as a touchpanel-based ordering system specifically designed for use in restaurants, which it intends to install in "bars located around the company."
Nokia launching 'high-end handset' with capacitive touchscreen in Q3?

Read -- Nokia adopts Synaptics touchscreen IC
Read -- Wintek lands orders from Nokia
Sensitive Object's Anywhere MultiTouch extends touch sensitivity to the whole device

Sensitive Object, a French startup best known for its louche, Gitanes-smoking engineers and its love of cocktail jazz, has just announced the development of Anywhere MultiTouch, a Windows 7-compliant platform that brings touch sensitivity to glass, aluminum, and plastic, through the use of piezoelectric sensors. This product is an extension of the company's ReverSys technology, which recognizes the precise location where an object is touched through soundwaves, with the new platform throwing in handwriting recognition and palm rejection for good measure. It looks like multitouch has finally been freed from the tyranny of the display, with developers now able to incorporate actions along the whole device. Excited? We bet you are. Full PR after the break.
Video: MOTO Lab's multitouch display scalable up to 50-inches

When the heads over at the MOTO Development Group aren't busy outfitting E-Ink devices with Android, they can often be found looking for bigger, better, and cheaper ways to build multitouch surfaces -- and they seem to be on to something. The video below shows full multitouch on a 19-inch display, although the company promises it is scalable up to at least 50-inches -- and it does this without the bulky projector. The capacitive touch screen forgoes the ITO (indium tin oxide) used in devices like the iPhone, relying instead on "extremely fine" wires to conduct the signals (which are lit up here for effect -- the company assures us that this will not be the case in production units). You know what this means: we may be getting that touch screen coffee table sooner than we thought! And we won't have to buy that yacht, either. But don't take out word for it -- peep for yourself after the break.
Dell's touchy-feely Studio One 19 lands in the US and Europe
Japan got the first crack at Dell's new multitouch all-in-one Studio One 19 in March, but it's finally headed our way. As expected, prices start at $699, with a Pentium E5200 Dual Core processor, GeForce 9200 integrated graphics, a 320GB HDD, 2GB of RAM and a slot-loading DVD burner in the low-end. Built-in webcams and multitouch features are present across the board. Check out a video of the multitouch functionality after the break: nothing much beyond the usual gimmicks, though we're a fan of letting your kid lay down beats with his jam-covered fingers -- that's true love.
Carnegie Mellon morphs 'pop-up buttons' onto multi-touch display

Read -- Video
Read -- Technology Review
Sharp Mebius NJ70A import now up for pre-order at Dynamism, LCD trackpad in tow
If the recent footage of Sharp's Mebius NJ70A and its LCD multitouch trackpad has gotten you hot, bothered, and reaching for your wallet, Dynamism is now taking pre-orders for the Japanese import netbook. The 4-inch touchscreen notwithstanding, you're looking at a 1.6GHz Intel Atom machine and the usual, ho-hum specs that go along with it -- not an easy pill to swallow when you're staring down a $999 price tag. Ship date is June 5th, and you might want to take that time to brush up on your skills with a Japanese International Layout keyboard if you're seriously considering the purchase.
Lenovo's ThinkPad X301 now with $9,969 multi-touch trackpad option
About a year ago Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 launched as a direct competitor to Apple's slinky MacBook Air. Over that time, the ultra-slim Thinkpad with a face for business has come to either match or dominate the MBA in nearly every category except the sexy. Now you can tick off one more as the X301 brings a new multi-touch trackpad option with fingerprint reader. In the typical befuddlement that seems to greet every new on-line spec on the Lenovo store, the new TouchPad is listed as a $9,969 option. Too rich? They maybe the $8,402 bump from a 1.4GHz to new 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo SU9600 processor will interest you?
[Thanks, James C.]
[Thanks, James C.]






















