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TouchPanel posts

New iMac and MacBook touchscreens debut, thanks to Troll Touch

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Nov 9th 2009 at 11:04AM

Troll Touch -- the fun little company with the unfortunate name -- have announced more of their award-winning analog resistive touch kits for 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs as well as unibody MacBooks. Prices for the iMac kits themselves start at $1099, or you can order new machines with the kits pre-installed starting at $2299. For laptop owners, your touchscreen kits start at $699. Not cheap at all, but you know what the song says: You've got to pay the troll's toll. Delivery slated to begin before December 1, 2009. If you've never seen a video of someone using a touchscreen, you're in for a treat -- we included one after the break. You're welcome.

Read - iMac touchscreens
Read - MacBook touchscreens

Continue reading New iMac and MacBook touchscreens debut, thanks to Troll Touch

Fujitsu gifts LifeBook T5010 convertible tablet with multitouch LCD

by Darren Murph posted Sep 16th 2009 at 10:21AM

It's definitely not the first LifeBook to boast a multitouch panel, but given just how popular the original T5010 proved to be, we're pleasantly pleased to see the outfit bless that very convertible tablet with a touchscreen. The new dual digitizer option gives the 13.3-inch machine a whole new purpose in life, as it now supports two-finger touch (for rotating, pinching, zooming, groping, etc.) within Windows 7. Oddly enough, Fujitsu's choosing to ship this with Vista until October 22nd rolls around, so we'd advise you to hold tight for another month and change if at all possible. Everything else about the rig remains mostly the same, though the $1,759 (active digitizer) / $1,859 (dual digitizer) starting tags are actually lower than the MSRP given to the first T5010 in early 2008.

Gallery: Fujitsu gifts LifeBook T5010 convertible tablet with multitouch LCD

Video: Hard Rock Cafe Vegas Strip gets ginormous interactive Rock Wall

by Darren Murph posted Sep 9th 2009 at 5:46AM

We didn't think too much of Obscura Digital's multi-touch hologram when we spotted it last August, but evidently the company has been working overtime in order to outfit Hard Rock's newest cafe with a monstrous interactive video wall. Hard Rock Cafe Vegas Strip is the chain's second venue in Sin City, but it's far and away the one to hit if you're a self-proclaimed nerd. Aside from having access to a number of Microsoft Surface-based installations, you'll also spend a good bit of time navigating the Rock Wall. The 18- x 4-foot touch wall (video after the break) enables up to six guests to simultaneously surf through the outfit's expansive memorabilia collection, with options to zoom and flick through oodles of images. Obscura claims that it just might be the world's highest resolution interactive display available to the public, with a trio of HD projectors beaming the content from behind the glass. Not like you really needed another excuse to add one more HRC shirt / pin / glass to your collection, but feel free to express your gratitude in comments below.

Read - Hard Rock's press release
Read - Obscura Digital's take

Continue reading Video: Hard Rock Cafe Vegas Strip gets ginormous interactive Rock Wall

Touchpanel Laboratories shows off touchscreen with 9-point detection

by Donald Melanson posted May 18th 2009 at 2:34PM

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."

Mitsubishi shows off "3D touch panel" display

by Donald Melanson posted Mar 11th 2009 at 9:47PM

Bothered by all the touching involved with touchscreens? Then you may want to keep an eye out for Mitsubishi's latest and greatest bit of technology, which promises to detect the distance between a finger and the touch panel to allow for a whole host of new interface options. That's done with the aid of an array of sensors that can also be used to calculate the speed at which the finger is approaching, and allow for a so-called "mouse-over function," which would essentially let your finger control a cursor without actually touching the screen -- something Mitsubishi says would be ideal for devices with small screens. Of course, it is still just in prototype form (currently a 5.7-inch capacitive VGA display), but Mitsubishi says it's based on panels that are already on the market, which should help ease development and reduce costs. Not surprisingly, Mitsubishi also says that "it will first be used for our products," although it naturally didn't say exactly what those product might be.

EETI to purportedly ship 7- and 12-inch capacitive touchscreens this year

by Darren Murph posted Mar 7th 2009 at 5:39PM

It doesn't take much to make us happy -- in fact, just mention the word "capacitive" and you're already halfway to winning us over. Throw in "multitouch," and you've got us hook, line and sinker. According to an admittedly dodgy DigiTimes report, Taiwan's own EETI is gearing up to ship laptop-grade 7- and 12-inch capacitive touch panels in the the latter half of this year, and if you're to believe it, that's word straight from company president Mei Tsai. EETI has already begun shipping smaller capacitive touch panels, so larger ones for use in netbooks and ultraportables is just a logical extension of the business. Of course, just because these things ship to OEMs doesn't mean we'll see them right away in commercialized products, but we feel pretty good about seeing a few near-final units at CES 2010.

[Via Slashgear]

Video: Vissumo touchscreen takes 9mm bullets like a champ

by Darren Murph posted Jan 26th 2009 at 3:07AM

It's not often that even rugged gadgets can withstand the force of a flying bullet, but whatever Vissumo has baked into its unique touchscreen technology, well, can. In Vissumo's Test Video #99, a firearm wielding employee unloads a few 9mm rounds into the panel (exciting, we know), and then he proceeds to prove that the touch functionality it started with is still there. We're not sure what it says about your choice of living location if you can think of just how helpful this would be in your everyday life, but regardless of all that, you simply have to see the vid after the break. Go on, give it a look.

Continue reading Video: Vissumo touchscreen takes 9mm bullets like a champ

Apple's 24-inch LED Cinema Display goes touchscreen courtesy of Troll Touch

by Darren Murph posted Jan 13th 2009 at 12:53AM

Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Apple's 24-inch LED Cinema Display knows that it's hard to lay off on the touching. No one knows that better than Troll Touch, who has just announced a touch panel integration kit for Apple's freshest LCD. The touchscreen gets powered internally via USB, and the custom touchscreen overlay design doesn't alter the panel's form factor in any way. Those looking to dive in from scratch can order a touch-enabled version now for $2,299, but those looking to simply upgrade their own can ship it to Valencia, California along with $1,399 marked for integration. Talk about a steep price to pay for permission to touch.

WiFi-enabled Crestron touchpanel aids in stargazing

by Darren Murph posted Oct 1st 2008 at 11:25AM

We've seen home automation touchpanels used for some -- shall we say, unorthodox -- activities, but this is taking things to another ~~level~~ galaxy. Franklin, NC-based Dan Quigley has whipped up a way for his WiFi-enabled Crestron TMPC8X to actually control a giant telescope. Rather than manually getting the 'scope into the right position, he simply touches a button and watches it automatically check to see "if and when that object is viewable." While he's at it, he can dim the lights around him and check the local weather, and once a celestial body is in view, he can snap a photograph or have the system channel the image to any computer / TV. Suddenly, astronomy has become entirely more attractive.

[Thanks, Chuck]

HP gets hot on touchscreen technology, plans array of finger-friendly gear

by Darren Murph posted Aug 6th 2008 at 8:29AM

In case you haven't noticed, HP has a thing for attempting (emphasis on attempting) to stay one step ahead of the sector. Now, it's being reported that touch technology is all the rage within Palo Alto, and HP is purportedly aiming to introduce "an array of products, including notebooks," that utilize the finger-friendly tech within the next 18 months. Details on those very products are few and far between, but Phil McKinney (CTO of the Personal Systems Group) sees touch "as the almost preferred method for nontechnical users." Funny thing, though -- it seems most everyone else recognized touch as the new hotness a good while back. We're betting HP has just been holding all of this mighty close to the chest... guess we'll see in 18 months, huh?

[Image courtesy of Old-Computers]

ASUS Eee PC 900 gets livened up with touchscreen

by Darren Murph posted Jul 2nd 2008 at 7:10PM

If you're tired of waiting for ASUS to offer a touchscreen option for the Eee PC 900 (or you're the proud owner of an existing unit), jkkmobile is happy to show you their shortcut to touchy-feely nirvana. As we've seen on all those other Eees, installing the touch panel into the 900 doesn't seem to be extraordinarily difficult for those with a few mods under their belt and a reliable Chinese parts supplier. For those who'd prefer to simply watch from the sidelines, you can peek the video after the break and lots more photos in the read link.

Continue reading ASUS Eee PC 900 gets livened up with touchscreen

Microsoft's LaserTouch prototype brings hand control to any display

by Darren Murph posted May 23rd 2008 at 8:28PM

We'll go ahead and get this out of the way: the fantastic product you're about to hear more on has "no plans" to go commercial. Now that we've thoroughly killed your buzz, let us introduce to you the LaserTouch. Said device is a prototype that recently emerged from Microsoft Research's labs, which essentially allows people to retrofit any display (monitor, projector, etc.) so that they can use their own hands to control the on-screen action. According to Andy Wilson, who played a vital role in the unit's creation, an infrared camera is used to track how a person touches the screen, while software that he developed handles the majority of the magic. Too bad this could totally undercut Surface sales, right?

LCARS-esque touchscreen controls home, excites Trekkies

by Darren Murph posted May 15th 2008 at 11:57AM

za9000's LCARS-like touch panel isn't quite ready to hop aboard any spacecraft, but it sure seems to do a fine job of controlling his home. Truthfully, detailing this thing in words wouldn't do it justice, so we'll leave it to you to don your best Spock face and check out the three-minute clip waiting just past the break.

[Thanks, Daniel]

Continue reading LCARS-esque touchscreen controls home, excites Trekkies

Gigabyte's GSmart Smart Touch UI shown on video

by Darren Murph posted Apr 30th 2008 at 11:57PM

Check it -- Gigabyte has just revealed details about a swank new user interface for its GSmart mobiles, and it has been coined Smart Touch. Sadly, multi-touch gestures aren't supported, but it does handle dragging / dropping and gives users oodles of customization options. Comically enough, the note on the new UI actually admits that it "works like [the interface on the] iPhone," but it claims to be superior due to its tight-knit integration and more "useful and interesting features." Sure, alrighty. We'll let you be the judge on this one -- jump on past the break for an excruciatingly long demonstration vid.

[Via the::unwired]

Continue reading Gigabyte's GSmart Smart Touch UI shown on video

Modder swaps touchscreen into Everex Cloudbook

by Darren Murph posted Apr 9th 2008 at 7:35AM

Not content with just ordering a touchscreen-packin' Cloudbook from Japan, Azazel decided to take matters into his own wonder-working hands and hack up his vanilla unit to include the oh-so-coveted touch support. Based on his reports, disassembling the rig and stuffing the new panel in was a lesson in simplicity (save for one quick round with a soldering iron), but actual usability proved to be somewhat of a letdown. It was noted that using the small screen with just a fingertip was challenging, and while relying on a pen did make things marginally easier, we'd think long and hard about your needs / wishes before taking the plunge.

[Thanks, David]