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Posts with tag TouchScreen

Really, really tweak your ride: the Unidrive has arrived

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 4:22PM


Not content with simply creating bizarre, high-end sports cars, Spanish automaker IFR Automotive has unveiled a steering wheel-embedded computer that can electronically alter the way in which a car performs. Dubbed the Unidrive, the touchscreen-driven device (which appears to have been in development for some time) will provide instant access to tweaking the valve timing, rev limit, ride height, ABS, and a variety of other car-nerd trivialities that only a true grease-monkey could really understand. The in-car end of the system will interact directly with chassis and engine functions, even allowing for unique states that can be tuned to individual driver's tastes. Currently the technology is poised to be employed in the company's forthcoming £75,000 (about $150,000) Aspid car -- no word on if this will make it into your next Escort. [Warning: read link is a PDF, and in Spanish]

[Via The Register]

Cowon's 5-inch P5 touchscreen media player brings the haptic happy sauce

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 8:21AM


Cowon just loosed raw PMP sex into the marketplace with its new P5 media player. We're talking 800 x 480 pixels spread across a 5-inch touchscreen display featuring Cowon's Widget+Haptic UI riding a 700MHz RMI Alchemy AU1250 processor. The P5 packs standard USB and USB-host jacks, T-DMB broadcast TV, FM radio, Bluetooth, TV-out (component, S-Video, and composite), stereo speakers, and up to 80GB of storage in a 138.8 x 88.5 x 20.0-mm slab of "Luxury Hairline Metal" (which sounds like brushed aluminum to us). It comes pre-installed with a Win CE Internet browser (a clumsy WiFi dongle can be added via the USB jack), MS Office document viewer, electronic dictionary, and support for AVI, ASF, WMV, MPG, OGM, DivX, Xvid, MPEG4, WMV9, MP3, WMA, AC3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC and a few more media formats/codecs with a battery capable of about 9-hours of video or 14-hours of straight audio. No price announced but the P5 should hit Korean hands on the 29th of July in choice of black, red, or platinum.

Gallery: Cowon's 5-inch P5 touchscreen media player brings the haptic happy sauce


[Via PMP Today and I4U]

Nokia firms up touchscreen phone plans, says it will focus on 'mid-range' markets

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jul 17th 2008 at 9:18AM

We've been hearing whispers about Nokia's touchscreen "Tube" phone for what seems like ages, and now it appears that the wait is almost over... with potentially less than inspiring results. In a statement released today from the company's head of devices, Kai Oistamo, the phone-maker says it will be launching a series of touchscreen devices in the second half the year, with the first model -- likely the Tube -- aimed at the "volume market." Oistamo claims that the mid-range market (not the high-end sector that devices like the iPhone 3G occupy) account for 50 percent of the total value of the touchscreen phone game. Essentially, it looks like Nokia's strategy will be business as usual, likely flooding the field with unspectacular mid-range phones, rather than taking on pricier competition like recent Apple and Samsung devices head-to-head, at least initially. Of course, who can argue with the company that shipped 122 million units in Q2 2008?

Fido-Dido touchscreen installed in Eee PC 900 complete with video

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 12:59PM

Eee PC 900 Fido-Dido touchscreen
It seems adding a touchscreen to the Eee PC 900 is all the rage these days, and one lucky modder installed the Fido-Dido version with what look to be woot-worthy results. He notes that there's no additional bulge, and a test video shows that the new screen is as responsive as one could hope. If you're the owner of a Eee PC 900 and want to get your hands or stylus on your screen (or you're just a curious little bugger), check the glorious video of the Fido-Dido in action after the break.

Continue reading Fido-Dido touchscreen installed in Eee PC 900 complete with video

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

Sony applies for "tactile pixel" haptic touchscreen patent

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 8:57PM


It's never clear how a company plans on implementing a given patent, but Sony's patent application for a haptic touchscreen composed of "tactile pixels" lists former Sony Computer Entertainment chief Phil Harrison as the inventor and makes several references to potential use in "a game device" and to "game events," so it's a safe bet that it was at least developed with the PSP in mind. The patent app describes a sophisticated haptic feedback system that goes well beyond the basic rumble of today's device -- the pixels themselves are able to move up and down between two positions, providing direct feedback to user actions. That's certainly an interesting idea, but like all patent news, we're not going to hold out hope for it to surface in a consumer device anytime soon -- but we're willing to be surprised, you know?

[Via PSP Fanboy]

LG Dare hands-on

by Paul Miller, posted Jun 25th 2008 at 9:25AM Featured Story


We spent some touching (get it?) minutes with the new LG Dare that's hitting Verizon Wireless today, and while we didn't come away from the experience a changed human being, we've gotta congratulate LG and Verizon for the obvious effort they've put into this unit. Particularly with the hardware the phone seems determined to differentiate itself from its iPhone competition, with helpful tactile feedback while typing, (almost helpful) handwriting recognition, video recording (in slow-mo, if you'd like) and even editing, and the beefed-up photo taking capabilities that a 3.2 megapixel sensor and built-in flash provide. The basics aren't too bad either, with a sturdy and bright screen, peppy EV-DO Rev A., expandable memory and a flush 3.5mm headphone jack.

Gallery: LG Dare hands-on

Continue reading LG Dare hands-on

Verizon's LG Dare touchscreen contender available tomorrow for $200

by Paul Miller, posted Jun 25th 2008 at 9:16AM


Verizon Wireless isn't kidding around with this new Dare phone from LG: it'll hit Verizon's online shop tomorrow (the 26th) for $200 with a $50 rebate, and then land in retail on July 3rd. We've had little time to get accustomed to its touchscreen mug, unlike Sprint's long run-up to the Instinct, but Verizon and LG have certainly done their homework. There's a whole lot to chew on here, so we're going to drop it on you bullet point style:

Hardware:
  • Dimensions: 103.9 x 55.6 x 13.8 mm (that's 0.54-inches thick for us yanks)
  • 3-inch, 240 x 400 touchscreen LCD with "Vibe-Touch" tactile feedback
  • Rev A EV-DO
  • 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus and exposure control
  • 120 fps slow-motion movie record mode
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • microSD up to 8GB
  • Proximity sensor for switching off the LCD when against your face
  • Light sensor to adjust LCD brightness automatically
  • Accelerometer
  • 3D graphics acceleration, supports app transitions and rotations

Software:
  • "Full HTML" browser (barely) with page overview and zoom functions
  • V Cast store and VZ Navigator
  • Cover Flow-alike music app
  • 51 possible apps, 11 app "drag & drop" shortcut menu
  • Shortcuts draggable to home screen
  • Graphical favorites menu, drag icons to pertinent task like message, call or edit
  • Contact list includes search ribbon and filtering
  • Text input via QWERTY, predictive keypad or handwriting recognition
  • Drawing pad includes colors, pen widths, eraser for scribbling and picture "editing"
  • Background music listening
  • Video editing, picture editing, panoramic stitching

Phew, these guys really packed it in. Stand by for our hands-on impressions.

2010 Ford Fusion features 8.5-inch touchscreen

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 11th 2008 at 4:06PM

We already saw a demo of the next-gen version of Ford Sync, but it looks like what we saw was just a taste -- our friends over at Autoblog scored some shots of the 2010 Ford Fusion's interior, and it features a monster 8.5-inch touchscreen, which will also apparently make it into the 2009 F-150 pickup truck. It's not clear how much the system will control or how much it'll cost, but you can bet it's not nearly as sweet as the 1979 Atari Riviera. Hit the read link for a couple full size shots.

Princeton follows Shuttle's minimalist lead with 19-inch touchscreen

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 10th 2008 at 8:55PM


Shuttle may have been the first out of the gate with this minimalist design (presumably OEM, and likely only a sign of things to come), but that's not keeping Princeton from doing its own thing with its new PTB-TMW19B tablet display, which just got official for Japan today. While the exterior's identical to the Shuttle, the Princeton model takes a slight dip in resolution to 1440 x 900, although the company makes up for that somewhat by including a stylus and some handwriting recognition software. Otherwise, you can expect a 5 ms response time, an 850: 1 contrast ratio, and even a pair of built-in speakers. Look for this one to set you back ¥128,000 (or just under $1,200) when it hits Japan later this month.

HP's TouchSmart 2 in the wild

by Paul Miller, posted Jun 10th 2008 at 1:19PM


HP decided to show off its new wares in Berlin -- which is a rather strenuous yacht trip from the Engadget HQ, or so we hear -- but was kind enough to throw up a few pictures of the new gear in action. The TouchSmart 2 is a particularly interesting product in light of Microsoft's newfound emphasis on touchscreens in Windows 7. This could be a sign of things to come, or just a fun little approach to the all-in-one desktop for the here and now, but either way we're rather curious as to what makes a second human necessary in the operation of this unit. What is your purpose, Mr. Blue Shirt man?

Gallery: TouchSmart 2 in the wild

Robbie Bach says no Zune Phone, no Xbox Blu-ray... maybe a touchscreen Zune

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 8th 2008 at 6:34PM


Someone clearly didn't want Microsoft fans being left out at this time of extreme Apple coverage. In an interview with SFGate, Robbie Bach manages to deftly deny the rumored Xbox / Blu-ray match-up, deny a Zune Phone is coming anytime soon (although he intimates Zune software may come to phones), but still cleverly suggests that a Zune Touch could be in the offing. Of course, by "cleverly suggest" we mean he mentions the possibility of a device with touch capabilities, which is like saying Dell might release a laptop with a keyboard. Is that the device pictured above? No silly, that's just someone's Photoshop work. Steve Jobs -- anything to say about this?

[Via wmpoweruser; Image courtesy anythingbutipod]

BlackBerry Thunder touchscreen phone in live shot

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 8th 2008 at 12:26PM Breaking News


Here's a little something that might put the brakes on some buyer's 3G iPhone dreams this week -- a real, live shot of the forthcoming BlackBerry touchscreen phone, the Thunder. There's not much info to glean from this image, save for the fact that it will be practically loaded with buttons (including send, end, back, menu, dual convenience keys, volume, lock, and play / pause) and will be headed to Verizon. If the UI is a spin-off of the one we've seen on the Bold, RIM could be striking gold here.

Shuttle XP19 touchscreen display's official images and specs unearthed

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jun 7th 2008 at 8:23PM

Shuttle XP19
While it's been spotted at Computex for a couple days now, we got our hands on an official picture of the new Shuttle XP19 widescreen touchscreen LCD display. We also dug up some spec bits for you: you're looking at a 19-inch Wa-Si TFT active matrix screen, 1680 x 1050 resolution, 5ms response time, 1000:1 contrast ratio, and 170-degree viewing angles. Oh - and it all comes in a shiny metal case.

Samsung's SGH-i900 comes clean in new photos, looks expensive

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 3rd 2008 at 10:31AM


We've seen this puppy in awful renders and blurry spy shots, but now we've finally got a chance to view Samsung's SGH-i900 as intended. The latest entry in the touchscreen phone game doesn't look too shabby when it comes to specs (240 x 400 display, 5-megapixel camera, 16GB of onboard memory, HSDPA, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0), but we get the feeling a lot of people will be springing for this for its looks. Fashion plates, start your engines.

[Via Navigadget]
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