multitouch
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Multitouch 'skin' makes your body the controller
Having a sophisticated computer interface on your body might seem like the stuff of science fiction, but a group of scientists at Germany's Saarland University have announced exactly that. Called Multi-Touch Skin, the material can be inkjet printed onto a plastic sticker and register a touch from multiple points at once, much like your phone or tablet does.
Apple will fix iPhone 6 Plus 'touch disease,' for $149
A number of iPhone 6 owners and independent repair techs have been complaining for months about something called "touch disease" killing their phones, and now Apple is responding. The problem's symptoms have been described as a flickering gray bar across the top of the screen and problems with the touchscreen responsiveness, which continue to get worse until it's addressed or the phone is unusable. Repair techs like Jessa Jones have reported seeing multiple devices per day afflicted by the same problem, with no end in sight. Going by Apple's description of its "Multi-Touch Repair Program for iPhone 6 Plus," the problem is really the owner's fault, caused by "being dropped multiple times on a hard surface and then incurring further stress on the device." Still, if you have the problem and your screen isn't cracked, Apple says it will fix the issue for $149 (or £146.44 in the UK), and its repair program is available for five years after the original sale date.
Multitouch is about to get more advanced thanks to Qeexo
Multitouch input, as we know it, is mostly for scrolling, rotating plus zooming with two fingers, and you can use more to toggle various actions on supported trackpads. But if you ask Mountain View-based Qeexo, we've only scratched the surface of this technology. Over the past couple of years, this company had been working on a software solution dubbed TouchTools, which can let you bring up virtual tools such as a pen, an eraser, a camera, a tape measure, a ruler, a magnifying glass or even a mouse using intuitive multitouch gestures. Many of these resemble the way you'd hold the real thing which is where the challenge lies, yet TouchTools works on all existing hardware that use a standard multitouch screen controller, which should appeal to device manufacturers.
A survey of Apple's input innovations
With Force Touch rumored to arrive on the new iPhones next week, let's take a look back at some of Apple's other notable input methods. Cupertino has always offered a unique spin on the norm, whether it's a mouse with no buttons, multi-touch gestures or a trackpad for your desktop. The pressure-sensitive Force Touch tech that debuted earlier this year on the Apple Watch and new MacBook is just the latest in a line of input innovations from Apple, a collection that's sure to grow in the months to come. [Lead image credit: Janitors/Flickr]
Touch+ turns any surface into a gesture controller for your PC
Haptix (now Ractiv) promised a cheap sensor that would turn any surface into a multi-touch PC controller, and it's making good on its word today by shipping the device worldwide. The $75 add-on has received a new Touch+ name and a sleek redesign, but it otherwise uses the same basic concepts we saw when the project got its crowdfunding a year ago. Put the device on a desktop stand or a laptop and its dual cameras turn your finger movements into gestures; you can play a first-person shooter by swiping across your keyboard, or sketch in Photoshop using your desk as a drawing tablet. It's definitely not for everyone, but it might be up your alley if you'd rather not reach out to a touchscreen (or use Leap Motion's in-air tracking) just to get more advanced input than a run-of-the-mill mouse or trackpad.
New Honda Civic packs multi-touch interface and Here Maps navigation
With certain exceptions, Honda isn't frequently on the vanguard of car cabin technology. However, we'll have to toss out our expectations now that the automaker has detailed the 2014 Civic's center stack. The vehicle will be Honda's first to use Display Audio, an infotainment system with multi-touch input much like that on your smartphone. Drivers can pinch the map to zoom in, for instance. There's also a big update to HondaLink in store -- iOS users can buy a $60 navigation app that sends Here Maps data to the compact car's 7-inch touchscreen, including turn-by-turn directions and traffic alerts. Siri Eyes Free is part of Display Audio, too. Motorists will get the technology as soon as the new Civic goes on sale tomorrow, as long as they buy at least the EX model. Frugal buyers will also find it in the 2015 Fit launching next spring.
Apple retains multitouch patent thanks to Patent Office ruling, forces competition to seek alternatives
Sorry, anonymous Apple multitouch patent challenger -- your victory isn't only temporary, it's also short-lived. The US Patent Office has decided to uphold patent No. 7,479,949 after tentatively invalidating it in December of 2012, which could mean bad news for many of Cupertino's competitors. If those numbers sound vaguely familiar, that's because they're known to most people as the controversial multitouch patent (that covers the downward-swipe gesture as seen in the video after the break) that Apple used against Palm, HTC and Samsung in court. In fact, it was one of the two patents that led to the import ban of some Samsung devices in the US. Needless to say, it now remains a powerful weapon for lawsuits in Apple's arsenal, and rivals best find a way to work around it on their designs.
Acer's new LED monitors: 27- and 29-inch flavors, up to WQHD resolutions
As much as we lust after 4K monitors, we need all that cash for, you know, boring stuff like rent and food. For now, we'll make do with screens that are a little lighter on the wallet, and today Acer has announced three new LED offerings for Joes and pros alike. First up is the T272HUL 27-inch multitouch monitor aimed at consumers, with a WQHD panel (2,560 x 1,440 resolution), 5ms response time and various inputs including old-school VGA. Arriving in late August, the T272HUL is expected to retail at around $999. Another 27-inch model, the B276HUL, drops touch support but sports the same WQHD res, a 6ms response time and a DisplayPort input among several others. Intended more for pros, the 29-inch B296CL rocks a widescreen 2,560 x 1080 resolution, 8ms response time and the same connectivity credentials as the B276HUL. Both non-touch models are on sale now for around $599. In case you were wondering, all three displays have 178-degree viewing angles both horizontally and vertically -- because if you're not looking almost entirely at bezel, you're doing it wrong. PR after the break.%Gallery-196070%
Haptix wants to turn every surface into a multi-touch controller
Motion-based PC interfaces are all the rage, thanks to Microsoft's Kinect and the folks at Leap Motion. San Francisco-based Haptix is sure it's got a better solution than the rest, but it needs a healthy $100,000 to get there. The company's got a Kickstarter page going for its self-titled peripheral that can be clipped to a device or placed on a table to offer up both a 3D sensing layer in the air and a multi-touch layer on a flat surface. The dual layers give you more ways to interact with your device, and a chance to rest your palm on the table, when the whole reaching out thing proves too tiring. In the Kickstarter pitch video below, you'll also see a Haptix picking up brushstrokes, which could certainly have some cool implications for artists.
Some 2013 Nexus 7 users report buggy multitouch, Google is investigating
A muddled sense of direction isn't the only problem affecting the new generation of Nexus 7 slates, it seems, as some users are also reporting issues with multitouch on the 1,920 x 1,200 display. The clip below the fold demonstrates the bug, and shows the touchscreen registering phantom inputs before freaking out for a couple of seconds. Over the past few weeks, chatter on the XDA Developers and Google Product forums suggests it's fairly common, with a response from Google on the latter stating: "The Android team is aware of this issue and investigating." We haven't had the same troubles with a 2013 Nexus 7 in our possession (running Android 4.3 build JSS15J, FYI), and while the root of the problem is still up for discussion, let's hope funky software is to blame -- no one wants the hassle of replacing faulty hardware, especially Google, when an OTA fix will do.
US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revives Apple's ITC battle with Motorola over multi-touch patents
It's been well over a year since the ITC ended its initial investigation into Apple's allegations that a spate of Motorola mobile devices infringed its patents on multi-touch display technology. Apple remained undeterred by that ruling and appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Today, Cupertino got what it wanted when the CAFC overturned parts of the ITC's decision, and remanded it back to the ITC for further consideration.
Insert Coin: TouchKeys overlay brings whole new meaning to 'tickling the ivories'
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Keyboards haven't changed much in the last, oh, few hundred years or so. You play a note by hitting and releasing it, use a pedal to sustain and change volume through the high-tech means of "bashing harder." TouchKeys wants to give you much more control with its touch sensitive, DIY stick-on overlays that can even sense multi-touch. While similar to what we've seen recently with the Roli Seaboard (which has rubberized keys that let you bend notes), TouchKeys can be added to most keyboards and would let you do even more, in theory. Similar to a smartphone screen, it senses up and down or side-to-side finger movements with up to three touches, all of which can be mapped mapped to different sounds or effects. For instance, you can create a vibrato by shaking your hand side-to-side, move up and down to bend notes, use multi-touch pinch and slide to change midi mappings, or play different sounds by multi-tapping. Most of the kits sold will be DIY, meaning they'll come as self-installed peel-and-stick keys and sensors that fit standard-sized keyboards, starting at £330 for 25 keys. You'll also have to open up the keyboard to tuck in the narrow controller, but the company said it hasn't seen any models that don't work yet. If you're not inclined to futz around, you'll be able to buy a limited number of pre-installed kits starting at £660 with a Novation Impulse 25 keyboard. TouchKeys is looking for a relatively modest £30,000 as its funding goal, so if you're looking for the latest musical edge, hit the source.
Synaptics launches a pair of mobile touchscreens at MWC 2013
If Synaptics has a favorite song, we'd assume it'd be Touch Me, after all, the touchscreen maker does want customers to get handsy with its products. The company is launching a pair of mobile touchscreens here at MWC that we can expect to see laminated to some Gorilla Glass on a bunch of handsets at next year's Spanish smartphone shindig. The ClearPad 3400 is a capacitive touchscreen designed for flagships that offers a greatly improved signal-to-noise ratio for devices of up to six inches. It's also announcing ClearPad Single-Layer On-Cell (SLOC) Multitouch solution, an interface for budget devices that eliminates the touchscreen sensor and border while still offering five-finger touch. Thanks to its simplified manufacturing process, it's much cheaper than competing inputs, and is currently being toted 'round Chinese OEMs. Interested in the finer detail of this human interface system? The release is after the break.
Ca-Fi Dashlinq upsizes in-car Android infotainment, arrives in January
There may be a size war brewing among Android-based infotainment system builders. Ca-Fi thought it was sitting pretty with its 6.2-inch unit earlier this year, but we're starting to think it was rankled by similarly-sized devices like Parrot's Asteroid Smart -- that would help explain its upcoming, 7-inch Dashlinq. Along with one-upping a nemesis, the double-DIN system brings multitouch zoom to a heavily customized (if slightly creaky) Android 2.3 interface. Otherwise, we're looking at a familiar, if fairly sophisticated approach: there's a dedicated media DSP, GPS navigation, an SD card slot for local content and internet access through 3G or WiFi. Ca-Fi expects the Dashlinq to arrive in January for €499 ($657), at which point we hope there's at least a momentary truce in the battle for the car's center stack.
Dutch court rules that Samsung didn't infringe on Apple multi-touch patent
Once again, a decision has been made on an Apple versus Samsung patent dispute. This time, it's a Dutch court in the Hague, ruling that Samsung does not infringe on a Cupertino patent relating to certain multi-touch commands that the Korean firm implements in some of its Galaxy phones and tablets. This isn't the first time that the Netherlands-based court has found in favor of Samsung, and Apple had already lost a preliminary injunction on this same patent last year. Reuters also reports that the Hague court's decision comes in the same week that the International Trade Commission is expected to decide about further patent disputes between the two firms, which went in favor of Apple the last time around. At the very least, this long and bumpy ride isn't over yet.
Dell announces its first multi-touch monitor, the S2340T, and a wireless trackpad for Windows 8
In addition to trotting out a new Windows 8 Ultrabook and putting its Windows RT tablet up for pre-order, Dell just announced its first multi-touch display along with a wireless trackpad optimized for Win 8. Starting with the 23-inch S2340T, it has 1080p resolution and a 90-degree articulating stand that allows the display to lie nearly face-up. At the base, you'll find various inputs, including USB 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort and Ethernet. There's also a webcam up top for those of you who plan on giving the new version of Skype a try. Meanwhile, the TP713 (pictured) is a Magic Trackpad-style touchpad designed to support Windows 8 gestures, such as swiping in from the left to toggle through applications. Both are up on Dell's site now, with the monitor priced at $650 and the trackpad going for $70. Both are expected to begin shipping this week.
Microsoft Touch Mouse gets promised Windows 8 support, works like a Charm
Microsoft vowed that its Touch Mouse would get Windows 8 support in time for the software's big release day, and it's being very true to its word by posting the relevant update with less than a week to go. Mouse and Keyboard Center 2.0 saves time for those not graced with a touchscreen by introducing multi-touch swipes that bring up Windows 8's Charm bar, switch between active apps and invoke Semantic Zoom. Will the Touch Mouse update trick you into thinking you have a Surface? No, but it's certainly much easier on the wallet.
'Sensus' case adds even more touch surfaces to iPhone
Devices to add more inputs to the iPhone are nothing new; there are a variety of keyboard peripherals, arcade sticks and game controllers to enable additional interaction with apps. But a peripheral that adds additional touch surfaces... that's new.A company called Canopy has developed this unlikely device, in the form of a case called "Sensus" (the one above is a transparent prototype). It's designed to enable touch controls on the back of the phone – like the Vita's rear touchpad – as well as the sides."The sensors can handle up to ten independent responses," marketing coordinator Ian Spinelli tells me at GDC Online. These inputs add to the screen's six, enabling play for "multiplayer or mutant." The idea isn't so much about getting more fingers on the phone, but rather taking fingers off the screen, to avoid obscuring the game.Spinelli offered examples of possible interactions, including swiping the edge of the case to strafe and tapping to pull a trigger."Right now we're doing a private SDK." In the future, developers will be able to download the SDK to add more touchiness for free, though Canopy has yet to determine if the actual developer hardware (a test unit of the Sensus) will also be free.Update: Canopy informed us that dev kits and the SDK will be free to developers.
Disney Research develops capacitive touch that detects multiple users through their fingertips (video)
Creating a truly multi-user, multi-touch display is a tricky prospect. How do you know who's who short of turning the screen into one giant fingerprint reader? Chris Harrison, Ivan Poupyrev and Munehiko Sato at Disney Research have suggested in a paper that fingerprinting on a capacitive touchscreen isn't far off -- it's just what we need to fingerprint that matters. Rather than look for physical ridges, the scientists' method sweeps through AC frequencies to find the exact electrical impedances of fingertips in contact with the screen. Different bodies, different clothes and even different shoes give everyone a unique signature that lets the screen identify specific people, even when they each have multiple fingers in play. The researchers propose that the technique would work well in collaborative workspaces, personalized devices and security, but let's not forget that this is Disney we're talking about: it's placing a strong emphasis on the prospects for shared screen gaming without the limitations we know today. While any practical use is still some distance away, it's easy to see future tablets and tables that are designed from the start to encourage a little socializing.
Zorro Macsk review: instantly add touchscreen functionality to your 21.5-inch iMac
Over the years we've come across a few signs that pointed to the possibility of touchscreen-enabled iMacs, but Steve Jobs had already dismissed this as a possibility for current Mac form factors. Quoting the man at the "Back to the Mac" keynote from two years ago: "It gives great demo, but after a while your arm feels like it's going to fall off. Touch surfaces want to be horizontal." So perhaps our fantasy's still stuck in the "research project" phase. Luckily, the more adventurous touchscreen lovers can look to third-party solutions. For MacBooks you have Axiotron's Modbook, except you lose the keyboard and you can't perform the modification yourself. As for iMacs and Cinema Displays, we've been following Troll Touch for its resistive touchscreen replacement panels, but they aren't exactly affordable and most of them have to be installed by the company. Even its user-installable SlipCover series starts from $899, anyway. This leaves us with the Zorro Macsk, a cheekily named iMac accessory hailing from TMDtouch of Shenzhen, China. The 21.5-inch model is priced at just $199 on Amazon with no modifications required. Plus, it supports multitouch -- a glaring omission from Troll Touch's Mac lineup. So is this truly a bargain? Or is it just a case of "you get what you pay for?" Follow past the break to see how we got on with the Zorro Macsk.%Gallery-165013%
